Security In Nepal Research Articles

Operationalizing crop monitoring system for informed decision making related to food security in Nepal

Abstract. In Nepal, two thirds of the total population depend on agriculture for their livelihoods and more than one third of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the agriculture sector. However, effective agriculture production across the country remains a serious challenge due to various factors, such as a high degree of spatial and temporal climate variability, irrigated and rain-fed agriculture systems, farmers' fragile social and economic fabric, and unique mountain practices. ICIMOD through SERVIR-Himalaya initiative with collaboration of Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD) is working on developing a comprehensive crop monitoring system which aims to provide timely information on crop growth and drought development conditions. This system analyzes historical climate and crop conditions patterns and compares this data with the current growing season to provide timely assessment of crop growth. Using remote sensing data for vegetation indices, temperature and rainfall, the system generated anomaly maps are inferred to predict the increase or shortfall in production. Comparisons can be made both spatially and in graphs and figures at district and Village Developmental Committee (VDC) levels. Timely information on possible anomaly in crop production is later used by the institutions like Ministry of Agricultural Development, Nepal and World Food Programme, Nepal to trigger appropriate management response. Future potential includes integrating data on agricultural inputs, socioeconomics, demographics, and transportation to holistically assess food security in the region served by SERVIR-Himalaya.

Family Planning and Health Commodities Security in Nepal

Background: Commodity security is essential for effective delivery of quality health services. Commodity security exists when people are able to choose, obtain and use products whenever they need them. With leadership of Government of Nepal’s Logistics Management Division and with technical assistance from United States Aid for International Development funded projects have been consistently working toward this goal with priority to Family Planning (FP), Reproductive Health, and Maternal Child Health commodities. Methods: A National Consensus Contraceptive Security Forecast meeting is held annually at center. The meeting is participated by Regional, District, Program Divisions, National Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance, External Donor Partners, Social Marketing agencies, and Non Governmental Organizations (NGO). The quantity needed, shipment schedule, funding requirement and funding shortfall, distribution and storage strategies for the Public, Social Marketing, and NGO sectors are presented for next five years. Results: With secured funding, increased availability of family planning commodities (stock-outs rate is less than 2%) at service delivery sites have contributed to improve national health indicators like Total Fertility Rate and Contraceptive Prevalence Rate. Key program interventions have ensured FP commodity security through effective coordination of public, private and external donor partners. Conclusion: Key lessons learned was a spirit of ‘Teamwork’ and good coordination –active involvement of other stakeholders is essential for ensuring FP commodity security. Other was an importance of ‘Advocacy’ for commodity security at district, regional and central levels of government and among stakeholders. Challenges are complexity of public procurement procedure and frequent transfer of trained staff, and distribution and transportation of health commodities from district to health facilities still poses a challenge to supply chain management. Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences | Volume 03 | Number 01 | January-June 2014 | Page 51-56 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v3i1.10359

Legumes crop rotation can improve food and nutrition security in Nepal

An intensive review of the literatures was made to access the importance of crop rotation for sustainable agriculture in Nepal. Result shows that an appropriate crop sequences improves soil fertility, reduces fertilizer cost, controls soil erosion, makes environment healthy, increases crop yields and develop sustainable crop production in the long run. Based on the study, identification of location specific crop sequences, their extension and evaluation of the impact on food production are recommended. Agronomy Journal of Nepal (Agron JN) Vol. 3. 2013, Page 123-127 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajn.v3i0.9014

Productivity and soil attributes as influenced by resource conservation technologies under rice- wheat system in Nepal

Rice-wheat system provides food, income, and employment to over 83 % of the people and contributes to national food security in Nepal. Sustainability of the system is under threat because of increasing cultivation cost and declining soil fertility. On-farm experiments were carried out to determine the effects of tillage and crop establishment methods, crop residue management, and nitrogen levels that affect soil attributes and productivity of the rice-wheat system during 2010- 2011at Bara, Nepal. The treatment consisted of three tillage and crop establishment methods viz. Conventional tillage (CT), Permanent bed planting (PB), and Zero-tillage (ZT); two residue management levels viz. Residue retention and Residue removal; and three nitrogen levels viz. Zero nitrogen, farmer’s dose (80 and 100 kgha-1 N for rice and wheat, respectively), and abundant nitrogen (120 kgha-1 N for both rice and wheat crop). The experiments were laid out in strip-split plot design with three replications. The research results revealed that rice grain yield was significantly higher in the plots receiving N level as applied by farmers that was similar to abundant nitrogen dose. Wheat grain yield was significantly higher with zero tillage compared to permanent bed planting and conventional tillage. Significantly higher wheat grain yield was also obtained due to abundant nitrogen dose than zero dose nitrogen which was similar to farmers’ dose of N as well. There was no significant difference in grain yield of rice and wheat due to residue retention, although, it improved soil moisture. In wheat crop, zero-till planting and increased nitrogen application conserved soil moisture, enhanced soil electrical conductivity and lowered soil temperature. It can be concluded that rice and wheat can be grown successfully with zero tillage and farmer’s nitrogen dose without any yield penalty. Agronomy Journal of Nepal (Agron JN) Vol. 3. 2013, Page 64-72 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajn.v3i0.9007

Food security scenario, challenges, and agronomic research directions of Nepal

The interim constitution of Nepal has mentioned “food sovereignty as fundamental right in its constituents 18.3". However, Nepal is experiencing decline in food security situation due to collision of domestic, national and international crises viz. poor agricultural growth, declined national agricultural priority, global climate change, global food crisis, and political instability. There is domination of small and marginal holders in Nepalese agriculture. Although the share of agriculture in country’s GDP is decreasing, it is still 33%, and the highest among the South Asian countries. Cereals are the most important staple food crops in Nepal and rice number one from area and production followed by maize, wheat, millets and barley. The grain-legumes and potatoes are considered the protective food crops for the maintenance of balance human nutrition in Nepal. Out of 88 countries, Nepal ranked 57th in Global Hunger Index (GHI) with GHI value of 19.8 depicting alarming situation of hunger in different regions of the country. Since the III Five year plan (1975- 80), the government of Nepal has given high priority in agriculture, focusing major approaches on promotion of integrated farming systems to address food and nutrition security. However, the food security situation is deteriorating. Adaptive measures on climate change, food distribution policy, crop and livestock insurance, subsidies on fertilizers and seeds, research and development activities on food-grain crops and bio-diversity conservation, inter agency coordination, food and seed buffer stock, and institutional capacity building would the viable options to maintain the food security in Nepal. From the rigorous study of various past research works, it can be concluded that the wider gap of several food grain crops can be reduced by system research, crop modelling, and up-scaling the use of agricultural machineries and tools. Agronomy Journal of Nepal (Agron JN) Vol. 3. 2013, Page 42-52 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ajn.v3i0.8985

Role Of Disspro And Cbsp On Current Seed Supply Situation In Nepal

The seed replacement rate of major field crops is very low, about 8%, in Nepal with 92% seed supply of major field crops from informal sector. Different seed production initiatives are undertaken by public and private sectors. However, their role and effectiveness on seed sector development have not been assessed. A review on secondary data related to seed production and usage and primary data collected from different public and private organizations in the year 2011were used to assess the role of District Level Seed Self Sufficiency Program and Community Based Seed Production program on current seed supply situation in Nepal. DISSPRO is the most popular, widely adopted and cheapest seed producing program with annual production of 40.4% followed by CBSP 3.83% of the total certified/improved seeds in the country. The seed production trend of DISSPRO and CBSP is rapidly increasing. Strengthening seed sector through the integration of DISSPRO, CBSP and other seed initiatives together with effective enforcement of seed regulation for quality seed multiplication, distribution and use is necessary for rapid rise on SRR, enhancing crop production and food security in Nepal. The Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:13, Jun.2012, Page 53-59 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/aej.v13i0.7588

Climate Change And Food Security In Nepal

Climate change is posing a threat on present and future food security in low income countries. But, the actual effect of the climate change on food security is not known. Using secondary data reported by the government, the paper examines the effects of climate change on food security in Nepal in the context of policies of commercialization of farm production. Statistical analysis is used to delineate the situation of food security in the country and regression analysis for exploring the effects of global warming on domestic production of major cereals. The results are discussed at global, national, household and individual levels empirically and qualitatively. The results suggest that a rise in minimum temperature decreases the productivity of rice increasing threat of food insecurity. The paper suggests some policy measures for improving food security situation in the country and open up some areas for further research. The Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:13, Jun.2012, Page 9-19 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/aej.v13i0.7582

Participatory research approaches rapidly improve household food security in Nepal and identify policy changes required for institutionalisation

The introduction, testing, promotion and release of a rice variety, BG 1442, in Nepal were examined in relation to existing policies governing these procedures and to how more participatory approaches could benefit food security. From 1998 to 2006, participatory varietal selection (PVS) was used to test BG 1442 and other candidate rice varieties in the spring (Chaite) rice-growing season (February to June) and in the main season (June to November). The testing of BG 1442 commenced 11 years after it was first introduced into Nepal in 1987 by the national rice research programme (NRRP). Following its initial acceptance by farmers, it was widely disseminated from 1998 by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the low altitude region of Nepal called the terai in projects funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), UK. This dissemination was done using a method termed informal research and development (IRD) where many small packets of seed were distributed without fertiliser or pesticides, the only additional input being a description of varietal characteristics on an enclosed leaflet. From 2001 to 2008, various assessments were made of its extent of adoption and its impact on livelihoods. In a randomised survey of households in 10 districts, BG 1442 increased from not being used at all in 1997 to being grown by about 20% of the surveyed rice farmers by 2008. It was grown both in the Chaite and the main season and was well adapted to the rainfed-upland and medium-land rice ecosystems. The variety was grown from the far west to the far east of low-altitude Nepal by resource-poor farmers. IRD was important in accelerating adoption and improving food security as it was by far the most important external source of seed for farmers. Prior to the adoption of BG 1442, farmers who did not harvest sufficient rice to last their households for 12 months increased rice self sufficiency by over 2 months (25% more). Those households that sold surplus grain and who grew BG 1442 increased grain sales by 600kg (25% more) in the Chaite season and by 370kg (24% more) from main season cultivation.Compared with the conventional on-station variety testing and release, PVS can significantly reduce the time needed for testing and increase the benefits from plant breeding. However, the greatest impact of using more client-oriented approaches was not from PVS but from the subsequent IRD given that it was the major source of seed resulting in its wide use by 2008. This popularity certainly influenced the decision by the national programme to eventually release the variety. This demonstrated how the extent of adoption could be a useful criterion for release, particularly when experimental data has previously failed to establish the superiority of a variety. The benefits from using PVS and, particularly, IRD were very large as they reduced the time needed for variety testing and popularization and hence reduced the time needed to improve food security. However, NGOs cannot sustainably finance the use of IRD and if it is to become a routine part of the national research and extension system then government needs to change policies to routinely use PVS and IRD. The regulatory framework needs to pay more attention to farmers’ preferences and make the process of official release or registration simpler and faster. The diversion to NGOs of some of the resources currently allocated solely to governmental organisations would allow NGOs to participate sustainably in varietal testing and dissemination.

Social Protection and Socioeconomic Security in Nepal

SummaryNepal, with a population of 27.6 million people, is a ‘least developed country’ in many ways. The country is characterised by significant socioeconomic insecurity, comprising structurally‐generated income poverty, a politically and socially fragile post‐conflict situation, threats to the environment, and deeply entrenched forms of social exclusion. At the same time, it is a country characterised by interesting socio‐political policy innovations, triggered by the end of a ten‐year violent conflict. Building on a discussion of the country's challenges, the paper explores the policy responses in the domain of social protection devised by the interim government to address the various dimensions of insecurity, and to show their novelty as well as their limitations. The final section offers some ideas on policy areas which would be needed to improve socioeconomic security.

Rice market integration and food security in Nepal: The role of cross-border trade with India

Coarse rice market integration between Nepal and India is analyzed applying a threshold autoregressive model. The price response behaviour of traders is found to be consistent with an asymmetric price adjustment mechanism, indicating coarse rice prices in Nepal respond to shocks originating in India. The results show that adjustments to negative price deviations from long-run stable equilibrium are faster than adjustments to the positive ones given a null threshold. Given that trade flows mainly from India to Nepal, Nepali traders would adjust their prices upward to align with the long-run equilibrium value relatively more quickly in the case of negative price deviations, than if the price deviations were positive. Such a high speed of adjustment to negative price deviations could be detrimental to net food buyers’ food security status in the absence of a price stabilization mechanism. However, a price stabilization policy in Nepal, a food deficit and import dependent country, would hardly have any effect on prices unless further effort is made to build up the level of national food reserves for short-term food security interventions. In the current context of structurally low levels of national food reserves, an alternative short-term policy such as foreign aid, in the form of food or income transfers, targeting the most vulnerable households to price increases is necessary through social safety net programmes. In the long-run, an improvement of transportation infrastructure between market hubs (other than the Biratnagar trade basin) in the Terai (Nepal) and India would contribute to the reduction of transaction costs and create incentives for more competition in formal cross-border trade with India. In times of negative shocks such as the high food price crisis in 2008, restrictive food trade policies in India will continue to undermine household food security in Nepal.

Trade liberalization and food security in Nepal

Among South Asian countries, Nepal liberalized most extensively during the 1980s and 1990s on both domestic and external fronts. In South Asia, Nepal has the lowest per capita income, highest dependence of population on agriculture and second highest poverty rate. At the same time, Nepal has the lowest average tariffs in South Asia and has taken several steps to downsize its public food distribution system and remove a host of agricultural subsidies. The outcomes from these policy reforms in Nepal are mixed. Aggregate indicators of food sufficiency and security (per capita food availability, extent of malnourishment) show improvement in Nepal since liberalization. Relative to other South Asian countries, Nepal is doing better on some indicators, like extent of undernourished population, while on other indicators, like stunting of children, Nepal is actually doing the worst. More importantly, the gains from liberalization across regions in Nepal have been uneven. The reason for such an uneven outcome is lack of complementary policies from the government that would lead to spatial integration of markets (e.g. the creation of physical and marketing infrastructure). Liberalization has in effect reinforced the ex-ante hierarchy across regions in Nepal. The paper then reviews the role and reform of the Nepal Food Corporation (NFC) within this broader context.

Atmospheric Carbon and Food Security in Nepal

Release of carbon from soil system is inevitable. It is increased through emission breath by animals, burning of fossils fuel, biomass burning and intensive agriculture. The only question is how to absorb that carbon in the atmosphere and reduce the carbon content of the atmosphere. Increase of CO2 in atmosphere increases the crop yield due to high photosynthesis, but the crops should tolerate increased temperature caused by higher CO2 concentration. Increase of soil organic matter through the addition of organic manure is one of the options that the carbon is retained temporarily, but in the long run because of oxidation and reduction process in soil, carbon will ultimately release to the atmosphere. Absorption of CO2 by the plants is one of the options, which is known as sequestration to mitigate increased carbon in the atmosphere. Key words: Climate change; Carbon sequestration; CO2 in atmosphere and crop yield; etc.The Journal of Agriculture and Environment Vol:.9, Jun.2008 page: 54-61

Internally Displaced Persons in Nepal: Neglected and Vulnerable

This article examines Nepal’s policies regarding internally displaced persons (IDPs), and aid efforts by international aid agencies and donors. Ten years of conflict (1996-2006) between the Nepal government and the Maoists was a main cause of the displacement of many people. Although the international community acknowledged that the armed conflict between Maoist forces and Nepal security forces contributed significantly to the displacement, the crisis did not receive enough international attention until recently. Ongoing violence in some districts of Nepal continues to pose major challenges to many returnees and to the peace process. The contradictions and tensions existing within Nepal’s IDP policies create further strains, especially on individuals and families displaced by Nepal security forces. Researchers, policy makers, and international agencies need to be aware of the geopolitical factors that could endanger the effectiveness of aid distribution to displaced Nepalese.

Security Sector Reform and Peacebuilding in Nepal: A Critical Reflection

The Nepalese monarchy has always relied on the military to consolidate its power both against growing popular opposition and during violent uprisings. The issue of security sector reform and the role of the monarchy have therefore been at the core of the debate about conflict transformation and peacebuilding. This article attempts to critically analyse the political dynamics after the birth of Nepal's Maoist insurgency and its influence on the role of civil society and the parliamentary political parties in the popular struggle for democracy. It also examines how internal security in Nepal is threatened by the efforts of India, China and the United States to secure a role for the monarchy in a future political system.

Nepal's Security Policy and South Asian Regionalism

Nepal's Security Policy and South Asian Regionalism

Nepal's Security Policy and South Asian Regionalism

Nepal's Security Policy and South Asian Regionalism

Performing security in Nepal’s little America: Bureaucracy and its malcontents

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/bodhi.v4i1.5808 Bodhi 2010 4(1): 1-17

Water Storage for Food Security in Nepal

Increasing trend of water scarcity for drinking, irrigation, hydropower generation and other purposes has been a serious challenge for Nepal. As food need rises, the country's reliance on irrigated agriculture increases. The existing run-of-river types of irrigation systems provide little leverage in providing adequate, timely and equitable water supply to the farmers' fields. With the approval of the 2002 Water Resources Strategy, the country is in the process of changing its water development paradigm from sect oral to integrated water resource management. In this context, intensification of agriculture is the most viable option of achieving food security and this requires assured supply of irrigation water which is possible mainly through water storage systems.Key words: Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM); Irrigation; Water storage; Agriculture intensification; NepalDOI: 10.3126/hn.v7i0.4234Hydro Nepal Journal of Water, Energy and Environment Vol 7, July, 2010Page: 35-37Uploaded date: 31 January, 2011