KATHMANDU, MAR 10 - The Nepal government will implement the Nepal Food Security Support Programme to provide access to food and eliminate hunger and inequality as universal rights.

The Interim Constitution of Nepal has declared food for all as a universal right.

A budget of US$ 26 million (Rs. 1.92 billion) has been allocated for the scheme which will have short-, mid- and long-term goals. A meeting of the National Planning Commission (NPC) held on Oct. 30 under the coordination of NPC member R.D. Singh had decided to prepare a project with long-term goals to eradicate hunger which led to the food security support programme.

The programme will be implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Local Development and the Ministry of Health.

"A short-term programme will be started this fiscal year in food-deficit districts," said Singh. Rs. 200 million will be spent for this programme.

The government has provided Rs. 130 million through the Local Development Ministry for the Rural Community Infrastructure Development Programme in 21 districts.

Assistance from development partners and donor agencies will also be utilised to carry out the programme. Mid- and long-term programmes are scheduled to start from the next fiscal year.

A joint report released in 2009 by the Agriculture Ministry, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) said that winter drought had led to a severe drop in food production in Nepal, placing more than two million people at high risk of food insecurity.

The report estimates that 40 of the 75 districts are food-deficit because of the drought. Half of the children under the age of five in these districts are stunted, while 39 percent of the children are underweight.

Short-term goals of the programme include improvisation on food purchasing policy, stabilising food price factor, subsidy on fertilizers and prioritising local agricultural production, Singh said. Similarly, priority will be given to production and utilisation of other foods in place of traditional and subsistence agricultural production.

Mid-term goals include research on agriculture as a top priority, expanding rural road networks, testing of the soil for high yielding and improving and managing land productivity, adopting modern agricultural methods and irrigation.

Amending the existing agricultural land use policy, discouraging land deconstruction and bringing a food insurance project are the long-term goals.

The World Summit on Food Security held in Rome on Nov. 16 had issued a declaration that includes strategic objectives, and commitments and actions to be taken by the heads of state and government and their representatives to eradicate hunger from the world.

The declaration notes that the number of people suffering from hunger and poverty now exceeds one billion, and that to feed a world population expected to surpass nine billion in 2050, agricultural output will have to increase by 70 percent.

Posted on: 2010-03-10 08:41

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