It has been estimated that rising food prices could potentially push 100 million people back into poverty, generating a range of political, social, economic and environmental challenges for developing and least developed countries. In particular, this is a major issue for South Asia as the region faces a clear and present danger of a reversal of the progress made in poverty reduction in the last decade. In response to the crisis, many countries have already tried to implement several policy measures that help them, among others, maintain and increase food reserves within their territories. South Asian governments have also adopted a variety of measures—reducing taxes on food grains, increasing supply using food grain stocks, export restrictions, price controls and consumer subsidies. Some of the measures have been blamed for exacerbating the global rise in food price. And a coordinated approach to address food insecurity at both national and regional levels is still to be in place.
The recent global rise of food prices has led governments and development agencies alike to rethink the agriculture, food security and international trade policies they have been pursuing over the past three decades. Mostly, developing countries—where food expenditure constitutes the better part of average household expenditure and many of which are net food importers—are bearing the brunt of such price rise.
Nepal as the least developed and low-income country in South Asia has been facing severe food insecurity problem as the latest World Food Program statistics show that 3.7 million people are at the risk of moderate or severe food insecurity due to severe draught, sustained high food prices, decline in agricultural production, unrest and the impact of global economic crisis. About 50 percent of Nepali children under the age of five are stunted. Acute malnutrition is estimated at 13 percent in Nepal, among the worst malnutrition rates in Asia. A large proportion of population in the mid and far western hill and mountainous regions are exposed to such food vulnerability mainly due to inaccessibility to road infrastructures, fragmented land holding, lack of irrigation facility and the prevalence of rugged terrain mostly unsuitable for crop farming. On the other hand, the crops are entirely dependent on the timing and intensity of rainfall which often is prone to draught and flood. This would entail in failing subsistence farming causing a majority of farm household compelled to buy food from the market which are located quite faraway from the rural household.
Acknowledging the enormity of the challenges related to food insecurity and poverty, the leaders during the sixteenth SAARC Summit held in Bhutan, directed the SAARC agriculture ministers to vigorously pursue regional cooperation in agriculture covering all sub-sectors to enhance overall agricultural productivity. They called for regional efforts on increased sharing of best practices, technologies, techniques, and materials. Given the importance of quality seeds in enhancing productivity, they further directed early consideration of the concept of a regional seed bank, regional testing and certification of seeds, and a framework for transfer of plant genetic material and seeds. This underlines the principle that South Asian agriculture must benefit from collaborative efforts among SAARC countries by undertaking specific initiatives and projects.
The issues of food availability, accessibility and meeting nutritional requirement of the people are at the center of food security in South Asia.
Thus, there is a need to identify and implement people‐centered short‐ to medium‐term regional strategies and collaborative projects to increase food production; investment in agriculture and agro‐based industries; agriculture research and prevention of soil health degradation; development and sharing of agricultural technologies; sharing of best practices in procurement and distribution; and management of the climatic and disease‐related risks in agriculture.
SAARC Food Bank has been operational since 2008, and the decision has been made to double the food reserve by the member countries. Nepal will now make a reserve of 8000 metric tons in the Food Bank.
The issues of food availability, accessibility and meeting nutritional requirement of the people are at the center of food security in South Asia and elsewhere. Emphasis on agriculture production and productivity enhancement must be pursued by the member countries in order to mitigate the problem of food insecurity. This would require forging better collaboration among the member countries in the spirit of Thimpu Declaration 2010.
Writer is Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Supplies
puruojha@gmail.com
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