World Food Day 2018 – Nepal Scenario

October 16, 2018, marked the 39th World Food Day and this year’s theme is “Our actions are our future. A #ZeroHunger world by 2030 is possible“.

The shortage of food and nutrition has been one of the long-standing issues since ages. It is pitiable to see that so many children and adults go without food while privileged people get to eat what they want.

Today on the World Food Day 2018, let’s take a look at Nepal’s progress with food provision.

Nepal’s Food Problem
With Nepal being the most hit in terms of natural disasters, issues like disease, poverty and food scarcity are rampant. Following are the regions affected by natural disasters and the resultant food deficit:

• After Province 1 and Tumbewa Rural Municipality were hit by drought, government officials and the rural municipality began to provide households with Rs 5,000 each on October 12, 2018. The situation brought with it lack-of-food and robbed people of their joy of celebrating Dashain.

 
However, victims say that relief is not all they want, they asked the government to build irrigation facilities as Nepal is an agriculture-dependent country.

• In the month of September 2018, when landslides struck Nepal due to incessant rains, people suffered a food crisis in Nepal’s Bajura district. Transport service was halted due to landslides in the region making it difficult for food to reach the region. The stock of rice at Nepal Food Corporation, Bajura Depot had also run out, creating acute food shortage for the less-privileged in the region.

• In August 2018, Nepal National Micronutrient Status Survey report revealed that 21 percent of the country’s children suffered from micronutrients deficiency. Health experts pointed at the unhealthy diet and lifestyle for the ill health of children.

 
These and many more instances point at Nepal’s dire need for food security. But it is important to see what initiatives the respected food stakeholders and Nepal Government are taking in this direction.

Nepal Food Productivity Initiatives

• On October 6, 2018, the UN & IUCN Food & Agriculture Organization with assistance from with assistance from the Government of Nepal and Ministry of Forests & Environment implemented a two-year project “Enhancing Rural Livelihoods in Abandoned Agricultural Land through Agroforestry (2016-2018) pilot project in Parbat and Kaski districts”.

 
The program assessed and came up with the best agroforestry practices for underutilized/abandoned agricultural land types.

In the wake of rising food concerns and poverty in rural communities, the rising scale of abandoning agricultural land became the key challenge in Nepal. This, in turn, resulted in 41 out of 75 Nepali districts experiencing a food deficit.

According to Assistant FAO Nepal Representative Dr. Binod Saha, the project serves to address such issues through the creation of national policies, strategies, and plans.

• On September 25, 2018, FAO, IIED, IUCN and Agricord launched the second phase of Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) in Kathmandu. The project aims to increase the productivity of forest landscapes to support the livelihoods of smallholder’s, indigenous peoples, women, and youth with support from strengthened forest farm producer organizations. 

 
“Producer organizations are at the heart of much of FAO’s work across the various strategic programs. FAO fully support the consultation process which will give direction for the implementation of FFF phase II in Nepal,” said Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO Nepal Representative.

With two major food productivity initiatives at hand, Nepal has hopes of reducing its food deficit and achieving a #zerohunger target by 2030.

World Food Day (WFD) was started by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) member countries at the Organization’s 20th General Conference in November 1979. It observed every year in more than 150 countries to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and hunger.

Also Read:

• UNWFP’s Online System to Assess Food Security in Nepal