Food Insecurity In Nepal

The country has been facing a shortage of food in different parts for many years now. The problem becomes particularly serious when considering that our population has been increasing at a rate that is faster than the increase in our agricultural output. Demand for a balanced diet has also made the problem all the more acute. Although a large section of the people suffer from food and nutrition insecurity in Nepal, the most affected groups are the landless people with little or no land to depend upon, traditional artisans, providers of traditional services, petty self-employed workers and the destitute who include beggars.

Survival

In the urban areas, families facing food insecurity are those whose working members are employed in ill-paid occupations or the casual labour market. These workers are largely engaged in seasonal activities and are paid very low wages that only ensure a bare survival. The social composition along with the inability to buy food also plays a role in food insecurity. The people affected by natural calamities, who must migrate to other areas in search of work, are also among the most food insecure people. The food problem in Nepal has three aspects:

Quantitative aspect: We should have sufficient foodgrains so that the entire population can have two square meals a day. The minimum foodgrain requirement must be made available at a reasonable price. Hence, there is a need to grow enough foodgrains to meet our present requirements. Sustained efforts should also be made to increase the production to keep pace with the increase in population.

Qualitative aspect: For the proper growth and normal health of the people, we should provide a balanced diet to them. A Nepali diet is deficient in one or the other nutrients. Deficiency of the constituents adversely affect the health and efficiency of a person. Nearly 60 per cent of the mothers are malnourished and about 40 per cent of our population suffers from malnutrition. Low efficiency results in low productivity and low per capita income.

Poverty of the people: Poverty begets poverty. The vicious circle of poverty never ends. Poverty results in shortage of food, loss of health, low productivity, low income and poverty again. We have not been able to absorb all our working hands into the productive process of the economy.

There are many reasons behind the declining trend of food production in the country. As more and more land is taken up by the construction of houses, factories, industries, warehouses, there is less and less land for farming. Deforestation is making the land less fertile. Decline in the land’s productivity, degradation of the soil due to excessive use of fertilisers, pesticides and insecticides, periodic scarcity of water for irrigation, water logging and salinity due to insufficient water management are other factors causing food production to fall. Another reason why area under foodgrain cultivation is shrinking is because farmers are taking to growing more profitable vegetables, fruits and oilseeds.

Adopting the suitable policy could go a long way in solving the food problem in Nepal. There is a need to introduce new technology in a package to boost agriculture production. This will have to come in the form of hybrid seeds, better irrigation facilities, fertilisers and pesticides. We should strengthen rural financing institutions, while mechanisation of agriculture and crop insurance are other measures to increase food production.

We should distribute food through a ‘public distribution system’, that is to say the supply of essential commodities should be done through fair price shops and government agencies at reasonable prices.

But all our plans and schemes will prove to be ineffective unless we control our population explosion. The government should promote family planning measures. The importance of a small family should be promoted through the media like newspapers, radio and television. Lowering the birth rate will undoubtedly help overcome our food problem.

The government should maintain buffer stocks in respect to certain agricultural crops such as wheat, sugar and paddy. The government should maintain price stability through the buffer stock. It should purchase foodgrains during the harvesting season when the price tends to fall to support the producers and sells them when the crop season is over. Nepal Food Corporation should expand its branches throughout the country to maintain a minimum stock necessary to avert a major food crisis.

The poor people should have a reasonable income to purchase foodgrains. In order to check unemployment among the rural people, the government has launched schemes such as the Integral Rural Development Programme (IRDP), but they are not working effectively.

Food security of a nation can only be ensured if all of its citizens have enough nutritious food and they have the capacity to buy food of acceptable quality and there is no barrier to accessing food.

Defective policy

In actual practice, food is not available to many people due to a shortage of foodgrains, defective food distribution and the poverty of the people. We should try our best to secure food for all the people. After having had bumper crops for decades, our food production is showing a decline due to a shortage of cultivable land and a defective government policy.

We hope our new government will find a solution to this problem and make Nepal a better place to live in. It is an irony that despite overflowing granaries, starvation is reported in the media.