# Promoting Urban Farming for Creating Sustainable Cities in Nepal
## 4 Food and Human Health
### Public-Private Partnership (PPP)  
[PERSON] (2001) defines public-private partnerships (PPPs) as those that \"combine the deployment of private sector capital and, sometimes, public sector capital to improve public services or the management of public sector assets\". Public and private bodies can work together to pool resources and funds to leverage agricultural technology [44]. In PPPs, public institutions and private individuals collaborate to consolidate isolated approaches, resources, and services to cope with the challenges faced by farming communities [45]. The state offers logistic support, a legal framework, a working avenue, and field resources. Academic and research institutions can assist with physical infrastructure, and private organizations can support technology and innovative research.  
PPP helps in unlocking digital advisory services to enhance productivity, along with the improvement of soil health and enriching weather information, using various sensors. Digital advising on agronomic services, financing, insurance services, and weather patterns helps landowners to improve farm production. The private sector becomes critical in the development of innovative solutions that provide expertise in plant sciences, genomics, and bioinformatics. However, the private sector is involved in programs only when there is a chance for commercial incentive. Small farmers will use services from the private sector only if there is a financial return. Thus, PPP eventually helps create a bridge between markets, services, and technologies. Advanced technology may include bio-fortification, a method of breeding techniques to improve seed variety to accomplish objectives of genetically engineering food variety that can provide richer minerals, vitamins, and micronutrients and can be cultivated cost-effectively and sustainably [44].  
Under the PPP programs, farmers can obtain services in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IOT), blockchain, and drones at competitive prices. Several research organizations in Nepal, such as the Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Agricultural and Forestry University, National Commercial Crop Research Centre, National Horticulture Research Center, and agriculture research stations located across the country, having facilities for testing and validating information with high credibility, can provide services to farmers. The existing body of agricultural research from universities and other institutions can be better leveraged to scale down or up any work performed by private agricultural technology. Such a vibrant entrepreneurly culture among all the innovators, including students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and grassroots innovators, and especially youth, women, and farmers, can encourage people to work together and produce innovative ideas to boost agricultural production.  
The endeavor of PPP fails if it is not operated transparently. However, open communication does not always come naturally, as individuals would not feel comfortable unless benefits and intellectual property rights are assured and transparency is maintained. Investment happens only when fundamental commercial rights are assured to entrepreneurs. PPPs may not be the right choice to solve every challenge in agriculture because entrepreneurs would act very carefully on a smaller scale. If private investors are assured of the security of their investment, only then they will agree to make investments in agriculture.  
The importance of PPP was realized during 2020-2022, when the global food supply chain system was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the government alone was not able to address the shortcomings. Additionally, the war in Ukraine that began in 2022 has massively pressured the agricultural sector in both developed and developing countries to provide more sustainable agricultural options, while also mitigating the environmental issues [46].