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Bishow Parajuli brings four decades of experience in development, humanitarian affairs, diplomacy, fund raising, and management in several countries in Asia, Middle East and Africa, including World Food Program (WFP) Headquarters in Rome as Chief of Staff and Director, Resource Mobilization and Government Relations. He has served as WFP Representative and Country Director to India, Yemen and Egypt and United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Representative in Myanmar and Zimbabwe.

Food security is a pathway to peace, with rising food insecurity a trigger for instability and conflicts. Ensuring access to adequate nutritious food for everyone is an important part of a country’s responsibilities for the wellbeing of the citizens. The government must, as a priority, increase its support to agriculture development and strengthen livelihood opportunities to improve food security. In this write-up, Parajuli assesses the global and national scenario of food security.

Food security is national security

Increased land use for agriculture and rapid rise in crop yields over the years has resulted in massive increase in food crop production worldwide. Despite this, there are 850m people who do not have access to adequate food and some 345m people face high levels of food insecurity. Conflicts, climate change and supply chain disruption are causing food prices to constantly rise globally, and poor households are unable to access food, facing threats in their dietary needs and nutrition for their children. 

With continued decline in household food production, more and more Nepalis are forced to buy food, and the country is moving towards increased dependence on imports. This is a concerning trend in a country where 60-70 percent of the population are supposed to be engaged in agriculture. Nepal stands high in the global hunger index, with 36 percent of children stunted. Close to a million-hectares of land is estimated to be left fallow due to shortage of manpower because of migration of youth seeking employment abroad and movement of people from the hills to the Tarai. 

Crisis on farmers

Year after year, farmers are worried about delayed rainfall due to changes in weather patterns and are unable to plant paddy crops on time. The shortage and high prices of fertilizers and availability of seeds is a recurring issue every year despite farmers raising the alarm about being unable to fetch reasonable prices for their produce, making crop farming less and less attractive. 

Most worrying is the lack of meaningful support to farmers and comprehensive interventions to increase local production, productivity and impactful programs.

SDGs

At the historic UN General Assembly Summit in Sept 2015, 193 member countries (including Nepal) agreed to transform the world with a 2030 agenda, focussing on Planet, People, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. This agenda which came into effect on 1 Jan 2016, aimed at the successful delivery of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. With seven years left for the completion of the Global Goals, will Nepal be able to achieve any of these 17 goals, including the elimination of all forms of hunger?  

At a recent Food Security Summit Plus 2 in Rome, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal stated that “It is important that we address the bottlenecks in every sector for making a leap towards zero hunger”. He also stressed, “Transforming the food system is crucial not only for food security but also for the realization of all Sustainable Development Goals”. The PM is right—food security is affected by at least 11 Sustainable Development Goals. There is an urgent need to translate the PM’s statements into action with leadership, commitment, program activities and financing, so that all bottlenecks in improving food security to achieving zero hunger are addressed. Unfortunately, there is more talk than action. Frequent changes in the leadership in the Agriculture Ministry at the political level makes matters worse. 

Government commitments

The budget for 2023/24 makes a commitment for a national campaign for self-reliance in agriculture with an increase in food production from 10.7m tons to 14m tons and a reduction in import by 30 percent by the end of 2024. This is clearly unrealistic, within the time frame and in the absence of inadequate budget allocation, shortage of key agricultural inputs, lack of irrigation facilities and plans to mitigate weather challenges. 

The Agricultural Development Strategy (2015 to 2035) developed to modernize agriculture and promote agricultural growth, focussing on production, processing and marketing was a game changing plan. The PM’s Agriculture Modernization Program is linked to the strategy covering a 10-year period ending in 2023. There have been serious challenges in implementation of the program along with poor alignment with the country’s move to a federal system. With serious reviews there are opportunities to learn from these efforts to improve future strategies and interventions. 

Challenges and threats

The timely availability and high prices of fertilizers and seeds is a recurring problem. High interest rates and difficulties in accessing financial support limits farmers’ ability to enhance diversification and increase productivity. Climate change with increasing shifts in rainfall patterns such as delays in rainfalls, high intensity of rain during a short period and reduced or localized limited rain, is a rising threat to agriculture and food security. These trends are emerging all over the Tarai, the food basket of Nepal. In July/Aug 2023, there were reports of extreme weather and a long period of dry spells. It is understood that some eight districts in Tarai have suffered from delayed rain with an overall estimated shortfall in paddy of 15-20 percent in 2022/23. Over dependence on rainfalls and absence of irrigation facilities makes agriculture highly vulnerable. 

In absence of reasonable returns and unattractiveness, less and less youth are engaged in the agriculture sector, who continue to seek employment abroad and move from the hills to Terai, also causing serious shortages of labor and families are leaving their lands fallow in hill regions. It is reported that there is close to a million hectares of land uncultivated in the hill districts. There are also increasing reports of animals such as monkeys, wild boars and elephants’ threats to food crops in various parts of the country, most probably due to the animals’ habitats being encroached upon. An updated national strategy to deal with this menace and support to farmers is desperately needed.  

Our crops situation

It is estimated that Nepal currently produces 10.5m tons of cereals (5.5m tons of rice, 2.7m tons of maize, 2m tons of wheat and around 0.3m tons of other crops such as millets) with an estimated supply gap of around 2m tons of paddy for this year. The decline in production and consumption of traditional foods such as millets and maize and increasing consumption of rice and an increased import of grains to supplement domestic production are of concern with the risks of over dependence in import and mismatch efforts against the climate adaptation strategy. 

Besides high costs of agricultural inputs, low productivity in all three major cereal crops (Paddy (2.9 mtn/ha), wheat (2.2 mtn/ha and maize 2.25 (mtn/ha)) have drastically reduced farmers’ profitability. Furthermore, with a decrease in farm sizes, there are challenges in the economy of scale in modernization and corresponding profitability of farming in Nepal.  

Neighbor support

India is the main source of supplies of food commodities to Nepal. When India announces restrictions on global food exports, there is obviously concern about sudden food price rise at the local markets across Nepal, in absence of price stabilization measures established in the country. It is often the case that even in most cases of export ban, India makes special consideration for close neighboring countries such as Nepal, and regular supplies are maintained. Meanwhile, consumers are obliged to pay higher prices due to speculative steps by the traders and in the absence of government intervention. 

Millets (Kodo, finger millet and bajra) are nutritious and are adaptable to harsh climates and grow well in the mountain regions under rainfed conditions, but its cultivation is reported to be declining. 2023 was declared as the international year of millet. Nepal should have taken advantage of these international and regional efforts, (particularly by India) to promote millet cultivation and their use in our diets. There is continued concern among farmers that various existing government programs are not working with multiple shortcomings in implementation. The absence of a credible monitoring and impact assessment system makes it difficult to formally measure specific outcomes and value additions from these programs. 

Supporting vulnerable communities 

The WFP in Nepal’s recent survey findings indicate that about 4.26m people eat insufficient diets. There are also region-wide disparities in household food consumption, with the highest level in Karnali Province consuming an inadequate diet (22.5 percent), followed by Sudurpaschim Province (16.9 percent). Overall, 45.4 percent of children between six to 23 months of age did not meet the minimum recommended dietary diversity, with the highest level in Karnali (52.3 percent), Sudurpaschim (51.7 percent) and Lumbini (51.4 percent). The survey also indicates decreased income among the daily wage laborers. Given that nearly 70 percent households are depending on the market as their main sources for food, continued rise in food prices and decrease in income is resulting in extreme negative consequences for poor and vulnerable households for their food security. 

A nationwide government run program provides school meals to students up to middle school levels in all government schools. This program provides only Rs 15 per student per day, which is inadequate for an impactful intervention. I was glad to witness recently in a school that funds allocated for school meals were supplemented by additional contributions from the municipality. Such measures should be introduced across the country. There is support through Food Management and Trading Company in far western food deficit districts such as Kalikot, Humla, Jumla and Dolpa to subsidize transport of rice for sale to poor households. Unfortunately, there are reports of major problems in availability of rice for poor households from these programs due to irregularities in supplies. Perhaps encouragement and support for consumption of locally grown food crops would be more effective than supplying rice at subsidized rates 

Success stories 

Despite the lack of adequate efforts to promote agriculture there are several success stories, predominantly due to individual and private sector engagements. The growth in dairy and poultry industries supported by the government are commendable. Visits to several milk collection centers and conversations with many dairy farmers in Nawalparasi, show impressive levels of government support and costs sharing arrangements, and increased private sector investments has led to significant improvement in milk production, processing and marketing, with the nation reaching close to self-sufficiency in milk. Unfortunately, dairy farming is being threatened by non-payment of money owed by the Dairy Development Cooperation and others to hundreds of thousands of dairy farmers. Similarly, sugarcane farmers have repeatedly raised their concern on nonpayment of dues owed by the sugarcane millers for several months, repeated over many years, with an increased dependence on import of sugar.  

There has been good growth in the poultry industry, in vegetable farming, piggery and goats farming, with successful efforts by individuals, who have returned from working abroad, with increased self-reliance on these products. 

The way forward

The central government, in cooperation with the provincial authorities, develop and implement ambitious plans and increase the budget, along with establishing strong leadership and governance structure to lead the agricultural sector. It is now an opportune moment for an independent and comprehensive review of the Agricultural Strategy and new phase of PM Agricultural Development Program to help increase production, productivity, processing and marketing of food crops, adaptation to climate change, and expansion of livestock, poultry, fishery, horticulture, olericulture and medicinal plants based on different agro-climatic zones. 

Develop a resilient and sustainable agriculture sector by promoting new opportunities, access to finance, and innovation for small-holder farmers, with climate information and preparedness. There should also be extensive efforts to increase national adaptive capacity to address widespread climate concern and delayed rainfall by promoting various adaptation and mitigation measures such as expansion in irrigation facilities, cultivation of indigenous rainfed crops, and diversification of livelihoods. 

Create resilient and food security solutions by protecting and improving the livelihood of vulnerable communities with safety nets and employment. Existing govt support programs need to be reviewed for their impact and accountability. There should also be a mechanism to update the list of households and Communities who are recipients of assistance. 

Develop and adapt a food system approach to ensuring food production, with supplies and access guaranteed at all times to everyone. There must be a strong governance structure to coordinate implementation and review, and to monitor the progress in program deliveries/outcomes and impacts with measures to mitigate failures or redirect unsuccessful programs, without political interference.

There should be measures to bring fallow lands into cultivation. Supporting small farmers on agriculture inputs, technical know-how and marketing of their produce will be critical. In this connection, there must be an increased effort in enabling women’s engagements in the production processes and increased value addition and engagement of private sectors. 

The key to successful improvement in the agricultural sector will require effective coordination and implementation of essential program activities, besides good policies, programs, and sufficient financing. There must be efforts to revisit Technical capacity within the agriculture sector to make sure the current structure and technical knowhow is capable of responding adequately. 

Seek partnerships to enhance agricultural sector productivity. India and China have extensive experiences in transforming their agriculture from food deficit to food surplus nations; much can be learned with expanded exchanges, cooperation and partnership with these countries. The WB/ADB and key bilateral donors and the UN system can offer specific know-how and funding support as needed. 

Until a few years ago, winter days in major cities across Nepal, including the Kathmandu Valley, were characterized by hazardous air quality, posing significant health risks to the public.

On January 4, 2021, the Department of Environment issued an alert to the public regarding the perilous air quality in Kathmandu Valley and other major cities, urging them to take preventive measures when outdoors.

Now, here is good news for us: air quality has relatively enhanced in recent years. According to Deepak Gyawali, the Department's information officer, although air pollution significantly increased in 2021, it has been gradually decreasing since then.

Major contributors to air pollution include carbon emissions from motor vehicles, dust particles released during road repair and construction and other construction works, emissions from industries and brick kilns, poor waste management practices, and forest fires.

Similarly, using firewood as a cooking fuel in rural areas contributes significantly to indoor air pollution. Moreover, increasing development activities in India and the burning of agricultural residues near the border towns and settlements exacerbate air pollution issues in Nepal.

According to Gyawali, the occurrence of rains and wind during peak pollution seasons, as well as the dry season, significantly contributes to mitigating air pollution.

Furthermore, the decrease in infrastructure development activities following an economic slowdown is speculated to have contributed to the improvement in air quality, although this hypothesis requires further study for confirmation.

Similarly, the use of electric vehicles and electric cookstoves has increased. The brick factories, which are one of the sources of air pollution, have also installed new technology. On the other hand, only around 50 percent of these factories are operating due to the economic slump.

Shankar Bahadur Chand, President of Nepal Brick Factory Federation, said the market for brick has reduced by 80 percent at present. "Only 40-50 percent of all the brick kilns are in operation these days, and that also not in their full capacity. Out of the 1,100 brick factories across the country, only about 500 are in operation at present," he said. He further added that it is difficult to re-operate a brick factory once it is closed down.

Kathmandu's air quality below standard

However, the air quality in some big cities, including in Kathmandu, is lower than the WHO standard.

The air quality from 0-50 in the Air Quality Index (AQI) is considered good for health. AQI 50-100 is considered average while AQI above this indicates an unhealthy atmosphere.

The AQI in Kathmandu today (Thursday) is 160 on average. Therefore, experts have pointed out that a lot of work has to be done to improve the quality of air in Kathmandu Valley.

The possibility of air pollution resulting from wildfires is always there in Nepal. Dust particles and the smoke, carbon, chemicals and various gasses emitted from factories and industries and incidences of fires are mixed in the air due to heightened pollution.

Toxic gasses like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide that are produced when burning fossil fuels damage human health as well as contribute to the global temperature rise.

The government has established Air Quality Monitoring Stations at 27 different places in the country to measure the air quality. Preparation was underway to set up air quality monitoring stations at three more places in the current fiscal year. Air becomes most polluted between 7:00 am-8:00 am. 

Program Director of Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Rajendra Shrestha, said opinions regarding improvement in air quality should be verified.

Accepting that sources of air pollution have decreased and people have become aware, he shared, "Air pollution might have decreased due to reduction in factories, increase in use of electric vehicles and stoves, decrease in development construction activities, operation of brick kilns and road upgrading."

Three major reasons behind the death of the people in Nepal are disease related to heart, liver and brain hemorrhage. These three types of disease also have a connection with air pollution. Cases of diseases mainly related with respiratory problems are found to have increased due to air pollution.

As per the World Health Organization, around seven million people in the world die untimely every year due to air pollution. It is said that around 40,000 people lose their lives in Nepal every year from it. 

Air pollution has been making negative impacts on the overall environment not only on human beings. Therefore, partnership was necessary among all stakeholders to control air pollution.

Monish Tourangbam is a New Delhi-based strategic analyst and the honorary director at the Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies (KIIPS). He holds an MPhil and PhD from the School of International Studies, JNU, and has taught geopolitics and international relations at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, and Amity University, Noida. Tourangbam has also been a visiting faculty at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, a SAV visiting fellow at the Stimson Center, Washington DC, and associate editor of the Indian Foreign Affairs Journal. He has been an Indian delegate at a number of high-level Track II Dialogues and regular commentator on US foreign policy, India’s foreign policy, geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific and South Asia besides other pertinent issues of international relations. Kamal Dev Bhattarai of ApEx talked with him about the Indo-Pacific Strategy and its implications for Nepal. 

How do you see the implementation of US Indo-Pacific Strategy 2022 in the Indo-Pacific region?

The US Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) more than anything else affirms the prevailing view in America’s policymaking community that the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) comprehensive rise is the most prominent strategic challenge to US primacy in the international system, and more particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. “The PRC’s coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific,” the IPS says. Although it does mention a host of global issues including the pandemic and the climate change that require renewed American leadership, the focus of this strategy on the strategic challenges posed by China is quite apparent: That the United States needs to face such challenges squarely, and build a “free and open Indo-Pacific that is more connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient,” in concert with allies and like-minded partners is what this strategy contends. The economic, political, and military balance that was heavily tilted toward the United States and its allies in the post-Cold War era has been rapidly shifting to a much more complex environment. 

The IPS is emphatic in pronouncing the Indo-Pacific region as the most consequential in terms of its impact on the world, and one that will require the US to deliver more than ever. The cornerstone of implementing the IPS quite clearly lies in how well the United States is able to diagnose the 21st century problems that the region confronts, and devising the solutions to the range of issues traversing the military plus non-military areas.

How do South Asian countries perceive the IPS and how are they responding to it?

It will not be easy to put all the South Asian countries under one particular bracket or category, while assessing how they perceive and respond to the US Indo-Pacific Strategy. Despite being grouped under South Asia, the countries in this region possess peculiar geography and interests that shape their perceptions and responses to the IPS. Each country depending on their maritime or continental features, and their terms of engagements with the US perceive and navigate the politics, economics and security of the evolving Indo-Pacific region. For instance, the imperatives of development and security in each of the eight South Asian countries shape their strategic behaviors as well as tactical responses. 

Quite evidently, the exponential growth that India’s partnership with the US has seen in the last two decades, despite its own history of “estrangement”, is something that continues to and will overwhelmingly shape how South Asia features in US Indo-Pacific Strategy. Moreover, in deciphering the perception and responses of South Asian countries to the IPS, the China factor will loom large, because of Beijing’s growing strategic footprints in the region. While the US-China strategic competition is an overriding factor in the Indo-Pacific strategy and the military implications are quite apparent, the IPS is much more comprehensive in its scope and its non-military dimensions that are development oriented or human-centric are equally significant for the South Asian countries.

What are its implications in this region?

The looming shadow of the Indo-Pacific increasingly hovers over the politics, economics and security of South Asia. Whether South Asia occupies a pivotal position in terms of shaping the contours of the US Indo-Pacific Strategy can still be debated. The way Washington perceives the Indo-Pacific as a geopolitical region, and implements it still reflects a bias towards the maritime aspects, more particularly the Western Pacific, and the contestation with China’s growing ambitions in the South China Sea plus the Taiwan Straits. 

Moreover, South Asia does not have any treaty ally of the United States, and hence its security commitments in the region are quite different compared to those in the East Asian theater. The withdrawal from Afghanistan portends a new era in Washington’s South Asia strategy, that calls for greater resources devoted and policy attention to build an “open and free” Indo-Pacific amidst challenges posed by an assertive China. The downward slide in India-China relations, the growing US-China rivalry and the burgeoning India-US strategic cooperation, are leading to a complex competition-cooperation-confrontation dynamic affecting the dependent and independent agency of South Asian countries. 

In South Asia, the US is a distant power in terms of geography but not as far as strategy and influence are concerned. While South Asian countries seem to hedge their bets between India and China, the role of the US cannot be discounted. The US’ strategy in South Asia has largely focused on the triangular axis of India, Afghanistan and Pakistan, but its Indo-Pacific strategy has been widening the menu of military and non-military engagements in the subcontinent. As far as hardcore security implications are concerned, how South Asian countries perceive and respond to America’s evolving concept of integrated deterrence will be significant.

Compared to other countries, there has been much discussion in Nepal about IPS, how do you see such debates in Kathmandu?

The evolving debates in Nepal on the IPS and the Indo-Pacific as a geopolitical plus geo-economic region expectedly reflects the permutations and combinations resulting from Nepal’s own perception of its core development needs and security imperatives. With the Nepalese parliament ratifying the US engineered Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Beijing smells a brewing concoction of American infringement on its growing strategic footprints in South Asia and the Himalayas, in particular. While the Himalayas witnessed US-China power tussle during the Cold War as well, it has traversed a long way from ideological rivalry through rapprochement to the new great power competition of the 21st century. 

Lately, the US is attempting to re-engage a mountainous Nepal in need for development aid and assistance, at a time when a proximate power like China looms large with its plans under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). At the same time, Nepal by dint of history and geography cannot ignore the overwhelming influence of India. The varying political views within Nepal and the pressures from Washington and Beijing witnessed during the negotiations leading to the ratification of the MCC is symptomatic of US-China competition trends witnessed across the larger Indo-Pacific region. How Kathmandu maximizes its gains and minimizes its losses amidst the Indo-Pacific geopolitics and geo-economics will be the test of Nepal’s diplomatic toolkit and the practice of its relative autonomy.

Monu Shah is a successful model and event organizer, known for his work in the glamor and pageant industry in Nepal. He hosts events as well and is great at it. He’s also the face behind nearly 50 Nepali music videos, featuring in hit tracks like ‘Chakhewa Jodi’, ‘Fasayo’, ‘Timro Yaad Bhulauna’, ‘Prem Na Hundo Ho’, ‘Saash’, and many more. He’s also the proud owner of  ‘Shah Studio and Company Pvt Ltd’ which not only hosts modeling events but is also involved in music, advertisement, and movie production.

After completing school in his hometown Dhanusha, Shah moved to Kathmandu for further studies. While in Kathmandu, he got interested in acting and decided to pursue it, and he has been doing so for the past seven years. Shah says that the more he explored, the more he got enraptured with acting and modeling. Watching Nepali actor Najir Husen’s performances on theater and screen was a turning point for him. “It ignited something deep within me and I knew there was no going back,” he says. 

Husen’s acting career became Shah’s guiding light. He aspired to follow in his footsteps. Shah enrolled himself in a theater group. Following that, he also participated in the Mr Teen competitions. This, he believes, was what later paved the way for him to become the showstopper at various fashion shows in Nepal. 

As his popularity grew, he landed roles in various music videos and advertisements for brands like Budweiser and some dairy products. He also got the chance to collaborate with different industries. With time and experience, he is now able to organize fashion runways and pageant events with ease. He is happy with the place he has managed to carve for himself in theater and the music industry. Now, his heart is set on doing cinemas where he can showcase his talents as a performer.

As someone in the public eye, he’s no stranger to challenges. He says he approaches them with optimism. For him, authenticity is the key to success. He stays true to himself without getting caught up in comparisons or competition with anyone. “I deal with every challenge with a positive mindset and I use them as valuable lessons to improve myself,” he says.

He works hard to stay updated, comes up with new ideas, and is always open to learning. Shah says, “Each experience teaches me something valuable, making me better at what I do.” Two years ago, he organized an event called ‘Face of Rajdhani’ which became a big success and helped him learn and grow. He considers it to be a turning point that boosted his event management career. 

He comes from the Tarai and feels stories need to emphasize inclusiveness so that our society can embrace uniqueness rather than fear it. He confesses he has struggled with stereotyping and that if he had let it stop him, he would have gotten nowhere. But it can dampen your spirits, he says. 

He says that he wants his achievements to go beyond personal success. He wants to be a role model to those who want to build a career in the entertainment industry. As for his work in the fashion scene, he is intent on supporting local and sustainable brands and showcasing the talents of Nepali artisans. 

“I’m selective about the work I do. I want it to inspire and uplift people and communities, especially the younger generation,” he says. Shah has plans to organize events that match international standards so that new faces and talents get the opportunities they need to grow. 

As of now, he’s working on plans to host an award event called ‘Kollywood Night’ to celebrate the hard work of Nepali artists and producers. He’s also gearing up to step into the global spotlight as an organizer for some big international events.