Reports
on Nepal's Civil War |
Kalikot,
Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, and Jumla: Impact of conflict on food security
|
March
2005 [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
KALIKOT,
8 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Fears are growing that food insecurity is set to worsen
in Karnali, which lies 400 km northwest of the capital Kathmandu and is
Nepal's least developed zone.
The
isolated area has seen food deficits since the 1970s, but the situation
has been made worse by the Maoist conflict - the civil war against the
state that has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 Nepalis over the last
nine years.
Kalikot,
Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, and Jumla are some of the country's most neglected
districts within Karnali province. Here, malnutrition is the major cause
of death and villagers have a long history of chronic food shortages and
periodic famines.
With
only a small proportion of cultivable land, the people have to depend on
external food, which has to be airdropped to avoid the risk of looting
if carried over the rough terrain. But with the escalation of the Maoist
offensive in the past 12 months, the amount of food reaching the region
has been reduced.
"The
food crisis has already begun in the five districts. I fear that starvation
will occur if food is not supplied soon," a local community leader told
IRIN, requesting not to be named. The Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) in the
western border city of Nepalgunj is responsible for distributing food in
the region and depends on helicopters to airdrop the supplies.
Karnali
Air, the only company allowed to transport food utilising its helicopters,
was asked by the security force not to airdrop, fearing that supplies would
fall into the hands of the rebels. "If the supplies are not made, the situation
will be dangerous. If there is no airdrop of the supplies, we must find
an alternative, otherwise people will starve," an NFC officer explained.
In
Jumla, villagers are so desperate that they are now trading valuable and
expensive medicinal plants in exchange for rice. They are travelling through
the area's difficult terrain to reach the southern belt of the district
to sell their plants at very low prices to buy food and take it back to
their villages. The plants are worth more than US $5,000 per kilo in China
and India but now they are forced to exchange the precious plants for basic
foods.
"The
non-existence of roads and low availability of other infrastructure such
as health, education and the like are the evidence of the neglect of the
government," reads the report Conflict and Food Security in Nepal by David
Seddon and Jagannath Adhikari. The report, published by the European Union
(EU) shows how the Maoist conflict has had an adverse affect on the food
supply system in Nepal, especially in isolated villages where the food
security situation is marginal at best.
"Even
now Karnali receives woefully inadequate funds given its size and needs.
In recent times, the government allocation from central funds has been
mainly utilised in transporting food grains and in paying the salaries
of government staff," the report said.
In
addition to government neglect, even the small amount of support to the
people of Karnali province is in jeopardy due to the conflict. During the
last few years, the NFC has relocated many food depots from the villages
to the district headquarters meaning villagers have to travel for days
on foot to reach them. But for the people, the distance is less of a problem
than the Maoist restrictions, which forbid them from visiting district
headquarters.
The
UN's World Food Programme (WFP) said it needed more and better information
on the food situation in the villages "We haven't found that recent political
developments have increased food deficit to a noticeable extent," Morten
Olesen, from WFP in Kathmandu told IRIN. "But that is just based on a few
surveillances which in some cases are outdated."
NGO
staff are also having difficulty visiting remote areas to get an accurate
picture of what is happening in the villages. Many rely on the heavily
censored media. "The main problem is that research is lacking nowadays
and we can only get an idea through what is reported in the newspapers,"
admits a local Nepali expert on food security who works with an aid agency.
But
there are still some important food security initiatives in remote places
like Karnali. One of them is the Rural Community Infrastructure Works Programme
(RCIW) that is jointly run by GTZ and KFW of Germany, the UK's Department
for International Development (DfID) and WFP. They work closely with the
government to implement a programme aimed at improving food security of
the poorest households in food deficit districts.
In
a country of 25 million, nearly 10 million have to cope with food shortages.
With a little support from RCIW, it has helped to give food aid through
its food-for-work programme.
Operational
in 25 food deficit districts, the scheme has involved more than 75,000
villagers in road construction work in return for food. Each worker receives
about 4 kg of coarse rice every day. Nearly 50 percent of the workers are
women. The road work runs from December to June - known as the 'hungry
season' when rain for agriculture is in short supply. "Most of the poor
villagers will not be forced to migrate to India if they get involved in
the work," explained Buddhi Kunwar from GTZ.
To
date there have been no major incidents where rebels have caused disruption
to the RCIW programme. "This programme is aimed at the poorest of the poor.
Even if the rebels try to obstruct the work, the community will do everything
to ensure that the programme continues," said a RCIW worker in Nepalgunj.
But
the rebellion is having some impact on such schemes. Early in 2005, RCIW
was compelled to suspend a road project in Gorkha district, 150 km west
of Kathmandu, after local villagers complained that the rebels were threatening
construction workers.
In
early March, security forces halted a RCIW project in Dailekh, 450 km west
of Kathmandu, suspecting that the programme was helping to feed local rebel
armies. One of the NGO workers was arrested but he was released and has
asked the local government body, the District Development Committee, to
allow the work to resume. More than 6,000 villagers rely on the RCIW programme
in Dailekh, for them it is the difference between feeding their families
and starvation.
Credit
and Copyright © IRIN 2005
Integrated
Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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IRIN NEPAL:
Impact of conflict on food security - OCHA IRIN
(March
2005) - no link
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