According to the tri-monthly ´Nepal Food Security Monitoring System´ report for April-June period, a total of 6,304 households in the district are in a position to meet only the minimal food needs with accelerated depletion of livelihood assets.[break]
A joint press release issued by MoAD and WFP on Friday said Naumule, Toli, Chauratha, Chamunda, Pipalkot, Kalika, Dwari, Salleri, Bhawani and Baluwatar are in ´highly food insecure´ situation.
Likewise, some 134 VDCs of 11 districts are in a moderately food insecure situation -- a condition where households meet minimal food with traditional coping, but are unable to afford some essential non-food expenditures without engaging in irreversible coping strategies. The list includes 22 VDCs of Okhaldhunga, 19 VDCs of Dailekh, 16 of Dolpa, 11 VDCs each of Baitadi, Udayapur and Salyan, 10 VDCs each of Surkhet, Taplejung and Sankhuwasabha, 9 VDCs of Khotang, and five VDCs of Bhojpur. [break]
The report attributes the situation of moderate food insecurity to poor wheat harvests, poor food supplies by Nepal Food Corporation, poor market connectivity, and limited income from non-timber forest products.“According to the District Food Security Networks (DFSNs), the rest of the country has witnessed a seasonal improvement in food security situation, largely due to the winter crop (wheat and barley) harvests,” the report said.
Rise in income from potato and high value crops like tea, cardamom, vegetables, ginger and turmeric as well as Chiraito, Rudraksha, mango, litchi, livestock products and remittances among others are the reasons behind improvement in food security situation.
The report also said the transient deterioration in food security situation is expected in the next four months (July-October) in 21 VDCs of Siraha, 53 VDCs of Saptari, 11 VDCs of Rasuwa, 14 VDCs of Dolakha, and the entire hilly and mountainous districts in the far western region mainly due to poor summer (2011/12) and winter crop harvests (in Siraha and Saptari), lean season (no upcoming harvests), and monsoon induced disasters and associated price hikes. “The situation is likely to improve with the onset of maize and paddy harvest from end-August through October,” said the report.
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