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3 Organizations Fighting Hunger in Nepal

Hunger in Nepal
In Nepal, one in four people lives below the national poverty line, earning only $0.50 a day. This makes it nearly impossible for them to afford basic needs like food, clothing and shelter. In recent years, many organizations have provided aid to Nepal to improve living conditions and lower hunger levels. Outlined below are three organizations fighting hunger in Nepal.

World Food Programme

The World Food Programme (WFP) is a humanitarian organization run by the United Nations with the goal of fighting global hunger. WFP distributes more than 15 billion rations to people affected by hunger in countries around the world. Two-thirds of the countries it serves are affected by conflict. Statistically, people in conflict-ridden countries are three times more likely to be malnourished than their counterparts living in peaceful environments.

One of the countries WFP has been working to address food security and hunger in is Nepal. Roughly 36% of Nepali children under five are stunted due to hunger, while an additional 27% are underweight, and 10% suffer from wasting due to acute malnutrition. As part of their work to address hunger in Nepal, WFP established the Zero Hunger strategy, which is a program with the goal to achieve zero hunger by 2030. This program has directly helped strengthen the government’s capacity to improve “food security, nutrition, as well as emergency preparedness and response.”

Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger was created to establish a stronger method for dealing with hunger. Over the past 40 years, it has provided life-saving services in more than 45 countries, one of which is Nepal. Since 2005, Action Against Hunger dedicated a team of 25 employees to address hunger in Nepal.

Nepal is very susceptible to natural disasters based on its proximity to the Himalayas. Its location causes more than 80% of the population to be at risk of storms, floods, landslides or earthquakes. A 2015 earthquake greatly affected Nepal’s Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts. In response, the team created and integrated water and sanitation reconstruction for the areas impacted.

In 2019, Action Against Hunger was able to provide treatments for severely malnourished children through two inpatient and 28 outpatient therapeutic care centers. The organization has carried out various livelihood programs that include helping Nepali citizens implement “home gardening, mushroom farming, poultry and integrated shed management” into their lives. In 2019 alone, the organization provided aid to 99,455 Nepali citizens. Among these citizens, 90,316 were reached by nutrition and health programs, 4,570 were reached by water, sanitation and hygiene programs and 4,569 were reached by food security and livelihood programs.

Feed the Future

Feed the Future was started with the intention of creating sustainable and long-term strategies that would put an end to chronic hunger and poverty across the globe. The organization now operates in twelve different countries affected by food insecurity to execute their goals.

In Nepal, almost 70% of the population works in agriculture; however, many farmers struggle to afford supplies to yield fruitful crops. Feed the Future works with the Nepali government and the agricultural private sector to “produce more diverse and nutritious foods, improve agricultural practices among farmers, and create more inclusive economic opportunities.” So far, the organization has increased nutrition access for 1.75 million children under the age of five. In 2018, it increased vegetable crop yields by 22% and raised farmers’ gross profit margins for vegetables by 17%. The organization also helped the farms it worked with generate $20 million in sales for their crops.

Eradicating Hunger

For years, Nepal has had high food insecurity and hunger due to economic hardships and natural disasters. However, organizations like the World Food Programme, Action Against Hunger and Feed the Future are making measurable and tangible differences in the lives of Nepali citizens. Through the work of these organizations and so many like them, eradicating hunger in Nepal is possible in the coming years.

– Sara Holm
Photo: Flickr

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5 Facts About Natural Disasters and Hunger in Nepal

Hunger in NepalNepal has spent many years suffering from the political turmoil that has both created and fueled much of the country’s long struggle with hunger and nutrition. Hunger in Nepal can be understood through heartbreaking statistics. Approximately 8% of the population is currently undernourished. In addition, 36% of Nepali children under the age of five suffering from severe malnutrition.

On April 15, 2015, the Gorkha earthquake struck central Nepal. The initial shock was measured at magnitude 7.8 while the aftershock was magnitude 7.3. This event decimated more than 600,000 buildings and killed approximately 9,000 civilians. The quake destroyed Nepal’s food supplies, further exasperating the country’s endeavors against hunger. Many different nations from around the globe offered relief assistance with much of the focus placed on providing medical aid and food resources. Since then, there has been an increased effort to lower the country’s hunger and malnutrition rates by both Nepal’s government and foreign organizations. These are five facts about hunger in Nepal and what has been done to address it since the Gorkha Earthquake.

5 Facts About Natural Disasters and Hunger in Nepal

  1. Nepal sits in the Himalayas, a high-risk earthquake zone. Because of this, the country is highly susceptible to natural disasters. Frequent floods, storms, landslides and other events destroy farmlands and threaten the safety of the people. In July of 2019, monsoon season floods and landslides killed 64 people while over 3,000 were displaced from their homes.
  2. The destruction of farmland due to natural disasters leads to heightened prices for the surviving crops. Food transportation in Nepal is also expensive due to the country’s mountainous terrain; the crop prices are greatly raised in rural zones where it is difficult for vehicles to maneuver safely. Around 25% of Nepal’s population live on less than $0.50 a day, making it impossible for them to afford adequate nutrition amid the price hikes.
  3. Approximately 70% of Nepal’s population works in agriculture. Despite the vastness of the sector, farmers lack access to new seeds and technologies. Because of this, rural economies have succumbed to declining production rates and urban migration. Subsequently, the country struggles to produce enough food to sustain a healthy lifestyle for the majority of residents.
  4. In 2015, Nepal ratified a new constitution that made it into a federal democratic republic. By ending the 25-year-long political turmoil, Nepal’s government was able to dedicate itself to addressing the country’s essential issues. In 2018, this new government passed the Right to Food Act; this act proclaims that food is a fundamental right for every citizen and aims to get rid of malnutrition and hunger in Nepal.
  5. Nepal joined other United Nations member states in striving to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. SDG 2 tackles the issue of hunger, nutrition and agriculture. In order to properly address SDG 2, Nepal’s National Planning Commission determined that it would have to focus on addressing the country’s underlying issues with migration, energy, resources and climate change. The Commission has initiated the Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan (MSNP-II). The focus of MSNP-II is to provide nutrition education, improve health and population management and implement sustainable agriculture practices.

There is still a lot of work to do, but hunger in Nepal continues to decline due to the efforts of those who care. While there are still many who go without, there are also many who can now properly eat and feed their families. With careful planning, Nepal will not only be able to provide for its people but change the course of its agricultural plans to protect against the risks of future natural disasters. 

– Nicolette Schneiderman
Photo: Flickr

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Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Nepal

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Nepal
Nepal, located in the Himalayas and parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, boasts eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks, ancient golden temples and a very rich history. However, this South Asian country also suffers from high rates of poverty, and as a consequence, hunger. Malnutrition rates are among the highest in the world. In the text below, the top 10 facts about hunger in Nepal are presented.

Top 10 Facts About Hunger in Nepal

  1. One in four people in Nepal lives below the national poverty line that is just 50 cents per day. People that live under the poverty line do not have enough money to meet their basic needs like food, clothing and shelter.
  2. Those who live in mountainous, more rural areas are the most likely to suffer from poverty and hunger that affects the country.
  3. The 2016 Global Hunger Index (GHI) found that 7.8 percent of Nepal’s population was undernourished. Nepal is ranked 72 out of 118 countries in the GHI, and the report rates Nepal’s hunger at 21.9, which falls into the category of serious. However, these numbers are lower than they have been in past years since 2000, GHI ranked Nepal’s hunger at 43.1.
  4. Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2) which is Zero Hunger, is a very important goal for the country. The prevalence of malnutrition among children under the age of 5 was 9.7 percent in 2016.
  5. According to The World Health Organization (WHO), stunting is defined as “the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.” Children can be viewed as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median. More than 35 percent of children under the age of 5 in Nepal are stunted, according to the research done in accordance with SDG. 
  6. Agriculture provides work to 68 percent of Nepal’s population and accounts for 34 percent of the country’s GDP, yet food is in low supply for Nepali citizens.
  7. Nepalese children who are stunted suffer from a variety of severe mental and health issues, especially in the first 1,000 days of their lives. These issues can reflect on their adult life, specifically on poor cognition, nutritional issues and even low wages.
  8. Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative have been very successful in its work in Nepal. Since 2011, there has been a 24 percent increase in the prevalence of children younger than the age of 2 receiving a minimum acceptable diet.
  9. The government and the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) introduced the Zero Hunger Challenge in 2014, with the goal of eradicating all hunger issues in Nepal by 2025.
  10. The Zero Hunger Challenge consists of five goals:
    • All food systems are sustainable: from production to consumption.
    • An end to rural poverty. Double small-scale producer incomes and productivity.
    • Adapt all food systems to eliminate loss or waste of food.
    • Access adequate food and healthy diets, for all people, all year round.
    • An end to malnutrition in all its forms.

Many experts that the above-mentioned goals of Zero Hunger Challenge are unlikely to be met by 2025.

These top 10 facts about hunger in Nepal presented in the text above illustrate that the country has made a lot of progress in its goals to eliminate hunger, but it still has a long way to go. The joint efforts of the government and nongovernmental organizations can certainly be the key to eradicating poverty and improving the economic situation in the country.

– Evann Orleck-Jetter
Photo: Flickr