Rural poverty alleviation through social and economic empowerment of the rural poor including women, Janajatis & Dalit has been the dominant development agenda of ABTRACO ever since its establishment. An overwhelming majority of the poor are located in rural areas and depend, directly or indirectly, on agriculture and related activities for their subsistence. Thus creation of additional income and employment opportunities in rural areas in general and within the agriculture sector in particular is a necessary condition for poverty alleviation in Nepal.

Transformation of subsistence rural economy into a self-supporting, sustainable and market oriented economy is critically important for the overall development of Nepal. In this context, expansion of agri-business and marketing opportunities is instrumental in building productive rural urban partnership. In order to ensure sustained economic growth, it is utmost necessary to utilize economically active manpower, business skill, scattered savings even if small; and appropriate technology.

The vast ecological diversity that exists within the country offers a wide range of farm and off-farm economic opportunities for the rural people. However, poor physical infrastructures as well as inadequate understanding of the specific development potentials, constraints and priorities, which vary across geographic areas, have constrained their exploitation in a significant scale. There is a need to design and implement focused development packages based on a clear identification and characterization of various commodity or enterprise zones in the country. This will help allocate scarce development resources and efforts in a more efficient and effective manner.

It is evident that effort of government alone is not sufficient for rural transformation and productive rural urban partnership. It is well realized that cooperative sector can contribute significantly to the process by fostering socio-economic justice. Therefore, building on the principles of cooperatives, Agri-Business and Trade Promotion Multi-Purpose Co-operative (ABTRACO) stands to carry forward the mission of cooperative i.e. transparent and fair trade, business and services and envisions promoting agribusiness and trade by channeling available resources, skill, capital and technology into productive venture. This will provide right mix of fuel and lubricants to drive the engine of equitable growth with required acceleration.

Mr. Jagadish Chandra Gautam
Chairman