Trade of fertile land should be stopped: PM Nepal

KANTIPUR REPORT

"We might have to ban the selling and buying of some fertile land in order to increase crop production."

KATHMANDU, NOV 04 - Prime Minister Madav Kumar Nepal remarked on Wednesday that the increasing trend of building houses in fertile land has led to the food crisis therefore the government should impose ban on the selling of such lands.

"Fertile lands are converting into residential area. If the trend continues, fertile lands will be occupied by buildings in the future," said PM Nepal, speaking at a symposium on food security. "We should formulate a policy for the proper use of land in order to control it."

Mentioning that the current residential system should be changed, PM Nepal underlined the need to have housing policy.

"We might have to ban the selling and buying of some fertile land in order to increase crop production," said PM Nepal, "if we fail to do so the number of poor people will gradually increase."

According to the PM, availability, supply, access and consumption of food are the four basic pillars of food security.

"The country that used to supply food in the past is now dependent on foreign countries," said PM, mentioning the current context of Nepal, "We will be facing a serious food deficit in the future if we could not become self reliant on food."

He said that the increasing globalization and economic generosity is gradually putting the people's right to food into peril.

Saying that the poverty, famine and deficiency are the common enemy of the world, PM Nepal said the food security cannot be ensured without defeating these challenges.