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Kathmandu saw its first known starvation death last week: Surya Bahadur Tamang, who’d spent several decades hauling goods in Kathmandu, was found dead on the sidewalks of Kirtipur. He did not make enough money to rent a room for himself, so he slept on the streets. On Saturday, May 23, exactly two months after the lockdown started and all work shut down, he was found dead, still clutching the woven jute strap he used to carry loads on his back. The locals said he had no family. He’d been eating free food offered by local organizations. Yet that wasn’t enough to ward off starvation.

How many people have died already is up for debate: on Twitter, there was news of at least one other man who had died of hunger in the Tarai, news which went unreported in the national media. These are not isolated incidents but a systematic failure of justice. As time passes and the lockdown continues, there will be more starvation deaths.

In a 2017 report by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), almost two million people in Nepal were considered undernourished. Nepalis living in remote mountain areas had less access to food than those in the Tarai.

The government of Nepal has made no plans to feed the estimated 10-15 percent of the population—two million undernourished, plus 1.5 to potentially three million migrants who have returned from various cities of India—who already faces hunger.

On top of the lack of government preparation, we have a locust infestation, which has moved up from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh, just across Nepal’s border. The FAO estimates that the locust invasion will grow bigger by June-July, with the advent of wet weather and the monsoon. We could potentially lose much of our major crops. Coupled with this is a border dispute with India, which could again trigger a blockade similar to the one in 2015. There will be less food export to rely upon as the locusts destroy essential crops and cause food shortages within India.

The Nepal government is still focused on developing immediate response plans for the Covid-19 pandemic. The primary focus so far has been managing the health sector and implementing the lockdown. As days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, there is an urgent need to also focus on other crisis that will compound the risks from Covid-19. The most immediate threat is famine.

Many countries have started rethinking their food trade and food security status. If countries like India and China do not keep trade open and supply chains working, food security risks for Nepal could be devastating. It is therefore of utmost importance to start discussing the importance of local food production and food sovereignty for Nepal. 

The returning migrant workers, who are now only viewed as a health risk, could be Nepal’s opportunity to win back our own food self-sufficiency. There are vast tracks of empty land in the hills and mountains and even Tarai. Out-migration and labor shortage was one of the reasons for abandoned cultivable land. Therefore, we need to capitalize on this opportunity and direct the returning labor force into farming. Nepal has deep roots in agriculture, and most of our young people already know how to farm. What they need to get started is government support for seeds, fertilizers, tools, and markets.

Local governments could provide support by making land leasing easier so that ownership rights are protected but the land is not left unplanted. Water management technology, seeds fertilizers and other inputs are needed as well. The government must also set up farmer co-ops to link farmers to larger rural and urban markets. The actual approach will need to be managed at a local level. There is no single silver bullet approach. This also gives the local governments an opportunity to demonstrate their prowess.  

In Germany, when farmers needed extra help to harvest some spring crops that usually relied on migrant laborers from Eastern Europe, students from universities volunteered to help. The universities were closed due to the Covid-19 and farmers even paid the students so it was a win-win situation. The context in Nepal would be different, but we need to find a way to increase our agricultural production. We cannot leave our lands barren and simply wait for the crisis to slowly unfold. Action needs to be taken now to hire students for agricultural work, to subsidize and support women farmers, and startup farmer co-ops.

Also urgent is the need to prepare for a locust invasion. While chemical sprays can keep the most immediate swarms at bay, they may harm other beneficial insects, so we should also think about biological control of the pests. Wasps are known to be natural predators of locusts. We could ask Netherlands, which has top-notch biological pest control expertise, for help with designing an integrated pest management solution. We can also use drones as well as airplanes which can fly down towards the swarms and disperse them with noise. Scientists have shown the locusts stop swarming when there’s a lot of noise.

We should not let this crisis go to waste. Let us use this opportunity to build back our food sovereignty. What we decide to do now will determine whether we face famine or feast in the upcoming winter.

Bikash Sharma, a lab technician from Kawasoti municipality of Nawalpur district in Gandaki Province, encounters a barrage of fake news on his Facebook page every single day. A few days ago, when he read a post claiming alcoholics and youths in general do not get the novel coronavirus, he could only laugh. Yet this is no laughing matter.  

Nepali Online News, a Facebook group with 1.2 million members, had a recent ‘Breaking News’ from one Aichi Auto, claiming that the death toll from Covid-19 in Nepal had reached nine by May 26, five more than the official figure. Another post by ‘news36media’ said the coronavirus could be on the verge of ‘self-extinction’ as it mutates.

“Many of the posts are pure rumors. Sometimes they are funny, but often they mislead,” Sharma says, as he worries about their impact on unsuspecting people who spend hours scrolling their newsfeed. He himself spends around 3-4 hours a day on Facebook, filtering through the flood of fake information.

The use of social media has increased during the lockdown, and Facebook is easily the most popular social media platform in Nepal. According to Internet World Stats data, as of 31 January 2020, over 10.4 million Nepalis were using Facebook. 

Presently, all newspapers, TV channels, and radio stations use Facebook to promote their content. There is news update almost every second. Even too much of authentic news is problematic in these sad times, but when the authentic stuff is mixed with fake news, it can be doubly confusing. There are plenty of illegal ‘news’ portals that barrage Facebook newsfeed with fake news. In relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, UNESCO and WHO have often raised their concerns about the impact of such fake news.

Ashirbad Adhikari, an aircraft maintenance technician in Kathmandu, sees that in the haste of posting something interesting, people often post wrong information. “For example, people claim the number of corona infections has risen. Even the news portals don’t realize that basing such claim on Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) is misleading,” he says.

Sujan Shrestha, president of Psychbigyan Network Nepal, a youth-led initiative that promotes mental health, thinks the fear created by fake news gradually erodes people’s sense of control and fosters a sense of panic. As the trajectory of the coronavirus pandemic is uncertain, people are always on the lookout for information that might make the future more certain. “Facebook newsfeed is an easy means to do that. But you may also be unnecessarily burdening your mind in the process,” Shrestha says.

This is especially problematic during the lockdown, he says, as prolonged confinement has already weakened people’s cognitive capacity.

Shrestha also mentions the danger of falling for conspiracy theories, such as Bill Gates engineering the pandemic or China creating an artificial virus to sell its products. “If an influential person posts such a conspiracy theory, a fraction of people will certainly believe it,” he adds. “And by doing so they may put their own health as well as the health of their loved ones in jeopardy.”

Pradip Dhakal, an admin of Nepali Online News, the Facebook group that has seen its fair share of fake news posted by its many members, says the act of creating and spreading fake news is a misuse of media platforms. “The registered news portals are less likely to spread fake news than the unregistered and illegal ones,” he says, adding that these illegal portals should be immediately shut. He advises people to rely only on the sites that they know are registered.

Some people blame the Facebook management for ignoring the gravity of the matter. Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of Facebook, had around a month ago assured immediate action to check the spread of fake news. He claims Facebook has marked over 4,000 pieces of Covid-19 related content as false. Yet that seems to have made little impact on creation and dissemination of fake news during these troubled times.

Over 26,000 people have entered the country from India via different border points of Sudur Paschim Province since May 14, as per security forces deployed at the border. But the provincial Social Development Ministry says only 12,367 are currently under quarantine in the province.

Locals fear that the risk of Covid-19 infection has increased as over half of the people coming from India have bypassed the two-week quarantine requirement. They are already in the villages, where there is no means to trace their health or social contacts.

On May 15 and 16, Nepali authorities had rescued 758 citizens from the ill-managed Indian quarantine posts across the border, and brought them home via Gauriphanta border point next to Dhangadhi in Kailali district. That sort of showed the way for in-bound Nepalis, and in the past two weeks, over 18,000 people have used it.

With crowds rushing to enter the country every day, there is chaos at the Gauriphanta border point these days. On May 26, some of those standing in queue fainted and mothers carrying their infants looked drained in the sun.

The District Administration Office of Kailali has ordered opening of the border from 10am till noon, but due to the long queues, it couldn’t be closed until 3pm.

Besides Gauriphanta, people are coming in via Gaddachauki of Kanchanpur, Pulghat of Darchula, and Jhulaghat of Baitadi.

The Gaddachauki border point was opened after people kept sneaking into the country via Dodhara Chandani, the Nepali village on the other side of the Mahakali. The District Administration Office of Kanchanpur has now decided to open the Gaddachauki point for four hours every day.

As illegal entries could not be stopped through the porous border, authorities thought it would be safer to allow entry and put the incoming people into quarantine. But the plan has failed.

Local government units have been assigned to manage these quarantine posts. Each ward of the municipality or rural municipality has to keep a log of people coming into the ward and put them under quarantine. But the incoming people refuse to stay there because these posts do not meet even the minimum hygiene and safety criteria. Due to their poor management, people supposed to stay there roam around in the day, go home for meals, and come back only to sleep.

The local bodies have failed to act properly, according to senior physician of Seti Zonal Hospital Prof Dr Subhesh Raj Kayastha. “It is now time for the local elected representatives to show their presence,” he says. “They should ensure that the incoming people stay in quarantine facilities.” Or the situation may soon get out of our hands, he warns.

Meanwhile, the provincial government claims all those coming from India have been quarantined. “From the border point, we put them into our vehicles and hand them over to the local bodies. The local bodies then arrange for their stay,” claims Krishna Raj Subedi, social development minister of the provincial government.

After the publication of its new political map including Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura, the government of Nepal has ramped up efforts to start formal talks with India. Nepali Ambassador to India Nilambar Acharya has been instructed to reach out to Indian officials to create an environment for such talks.

Nepal is of the view that a high-level virtual meeting could start even amid the Covid-19 pandemic in order to give a message that dialogue has begun. Such a process, for instance, could be initiated via a phone conversation between the two foreign ministers.

There is also pressure on the Indian government to sit for dialogue. Right now the foreign secretary-level dialogue is the only available bilateral mechanism to take up boundary disputes. Nepal had proposed two dates for foreign secretary-level talks after India came up with a new political map in November. India ignored these requests.

The chances of dialogue between the two countries in the near future appear slim. Retired Indian diplomats who spoke to APEX said there could be no dialogue in the current tense situation.

India has also put forth conditions for talks. The May 20 press statement of India’s Ministry of External Affairs says, “We hope that the Nepalese leadership will create a positive atmosphere for diplomatic dialogue to resolve the outstanding boundary issues.” India, however, has not clarified how such “positive atmosphere” may be created. In a previous statement, India had said that it was ready for talks after the end of the Covid-19 crisis.

Unlike the past

Sooner or later, the two sides will have to sit for talks. Unlike in the past, the Nepali society and political parties are united on the border dispute. “During the time of the Mahakali Treaty in 1996, Nepali polity and society were divided. They were also divided at the time of constitution drafting in 2015. The situation is entirely different now,” says geopolitical analyst Tika Dhakal. This, in his view, has given the Nepali government greater confidence to negotiate. “There should be negotiations at all possible levels. It is time to activate all bilateral mechanisms, including the meeting of foreign secretaries,” he advises. A series of discussions at the bureaucratic level, he adds, can lay the ground for higher-level talks.

Dialogue can take place at various levels. The two foreign secretaries can immediately meet. The Nepal Army (NA) may also have a role given its ‘special relationship’ with the Indian Army. During the 2015-16 blockade, the Nepal Army had played the crucial role of getting its Indian counterpart to successfully lobby with the Indian government to lift the blockade.

Former Brigadier General of Nepal Army Umesh Bhattarai differs. “In 2015, the Indian Army was not involved in the blockade but in Kalapani it is directly involved. So army-level talks is not a viable option this time,” he says. Bhattarai is of the view that the Nepal Army should rather show its presence in the Kalapani area.

Where’s the will?

“We have sufficient proof that these territories belong to Nepal. So why not try to convince the Indian side on the negotiation table?” Bhattarai asks. After the incorporation of the new map in the constitution, it will have the ownership of all parliamentary parties and they will be bound to have a common stand on Kalapani. Sufficient proof and a common stand, Bhattarai reckons, will help Nepal’s cause at the negotiating table.

On the other hand, India is hardening its position. In the past, India had recognized Kalapani as a disputed territory. But after the publication of its new political map in November last year, India claims this is now an entirely Indian territory.

Nepal on the other hand is confident that it will be able to convince India of why the new map had to be published. Reportedly, Prime Minister KP Oli is not in a mood to further provoke India and wants immediate dialogue to defuse the tension.

Boundary disputes are an old problem between the two countries. Experts say this is the perfect time to resolve it, as both the prime ministers have strong mandates. There is strong support in Nepal for Oli government’s efforts to resolve the border issue, and Modi, likewise, is in a position to make hard decisions. But then do they have the political will to settle Kalapani?