Food Security in Post Conflict Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities 1 Food Security in Post Conflict Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities Edited by Bishnu Raj Upreti Sagar Raj Sharma Suman Babu Paudel Published by Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR) and Department of Development Studies, School of Arts, Kathmandu University Citation: Upreti BR, Sharma SR, Paudel SB, editors. 2014. Food Security in Post Conflict Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities. Kathmandu: Department of Development Studies, School of Arts, Kathmandu University and Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR). Copyright © 2014 by Nepal Centre for Contemporary Research (NCCR) and Department of Development Studies, School of Arts, Kathmandu University All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-9937-8883-3-2 Price: 300 NRs (paper back) 350 NRs (hard cover) Layout/cover design: Jyoti Khatiwada Printed by: Heidel Press Pvt. Ltd. Dillibazar, Kathmandu, Tel: 01-4439812 Cover photos: Yamuna Ghale Disclaimer: The content and materials presented in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the institution with which the authors are affiliated. Preface Food security has emerged as a major global concern due to changes wrought by climate change, demographic dynamics, political power struggles, and rapidly globalizing economic processes. In the case of Nepal, current efforts to rebuild the state after a decade- long insurgency have added another challenging dimension to food security. The Interim Constitution 2007 enshrined the ‘right to food’ as a fundamental right for Nepali citizens. Hence, post- conflict debates in Nepal have focused significantly on food issues. This book, “Food Security in Post-conflict Nepal: Challenges and Opportunities”, devotes its pages to important issues and perspectives that help illuminate the complexity of food security in Nepal while also pointing ways forward to insure better livelihoods for rural and urban Nepalis alike. This volume explores issues ranging from gender and markets to the current push for genetically modified seeds-all of which exert a challenging influence on the sensitive matters of food and agricultural productivity in post-conflict Nepal. In the first chapter “Food security in the conflict and post-conflict context of Nepal”, the authors discuss different dimensions of food security in the post-conflict political context of Nepal. As a predominantly agricultural country, food insecurity should not be an issue for Nepal theoretically. However, in practice, food security is a constant challenge. Experiences in Nepal clearly indicate that food insecurity is exacerbated by a combination of internal domestic causes such as armed conflict, weak policies, and weak intuitional arrangements for food governance. Externally, food security issues in Nepal are hampered by the commercial interests of developed countries as they influence the cultivation and use of resources, development investment, and trade regulations. i The chapter “Food security: Key terms and debates” highlights the different terminology used in recent debates on food security. Food security is a complex sustainable development issue connecting dimensions of the environment, economy, and society. The issue of food security in Nepal is multifaceted and complex, confronted with challenges such as socio-political structures, gender discrimination, degradation of natural resources, and many others. “Conflict over seed and plant genetic resources: Implications for food security” examines the contestation between seed sovereignty and farmers’ rights and the virtual monopoly the corporate sector holds on plant genetic resources. In doing so, we highlight the concerns and issues of local people in developing countries who are at the greatest risk to suffer from food insecurity and the negative effects of globalising processes. The chapter “The determinants of Nepal’s food insecurity” discusses the various social, cultural, and political factors that have precipitated Nepal’s food insecurity status. The authors argue that without proper and strengthened access and supply, Nepal cannot move forward to ensure food security in Nepal. Therefore, it is crucial to examine the demands of people before supplying goods (except for emergency situations when the demands are obvious and high). In “Gendered dimensions of food security in Nepal”, the author examines the discriminatory power relations that influence food security in Nepal, as well as the national and international instruments that are being employed to address those issues. The author argues that examining the food system through the lens of gender is crucial to understanding the structural causes and for devising possible ways forward to ensure equal rights, entitlements, needs, and choices about food. “Improving markets and trade policy for food security” posits that Nepal should focus its food production on goods that have a comparative advantage. Nepal also needs to position itself to benefit from trade facilitation schemes in the global market. International markets have been focusing on trade facilitation ii issues such as customs procedures, logistics, trade infrastructures, and the trade regulatory environment than on reducing other trade barriers, such as tariffs and quotas. The author notes that Nepal could benefit through products that have international appeal and trade facilitation schemes already in place, such as organics. The final chapter, “Agricultural productivity and food security: Challenges and opportunities”, argues for a paradigm shift in the overall vision of agricultural development, moving beyond increasing crop yields to a more holistic food security and livelihood- centric approach. To date, agricultural development has focused on staple crops at the expense of equally valuable products such as specialty crops, livestock, and poultry. Similarly, the authors argue that state agencies should increase their focus on lesser valued components of agriculture and rural development, such as improving rural income and employment, efficient use of scarce resources, and climate change. From these discussions it becomes clear that there is an urgent need to develop tools and approaches that can assist farmers, researchers, policy makers, and other stakeholders to develop a better understanding of the factors driving food insecurity and hindering the implementation of effective policies and institutions. Enacting measures that focus on resilience and vulnerable populations will not only address the root causes of vulnerability, namely poverty, but would also constitute a major step towards tackling the problem of hunger that affects millions of Nepalis today. We look forward to constructive comments from our readers. The Editors May 2014, Kathmandu iii Acknowledgement Our sincere gratitude goes to all who helped us during the course of preparing this volume. Unfortunately, we do not have space to mention them everyone, but we would like to name some whose extraordinary support helped bring this book into this shape. Foremost, we recognize our individual authors who contributed chapters amidst very busy schedules: Dr. Prabin Manandhar, Ms. Yamuna Ghale, Mr. Nirmal Kumar Bishowkarma, Dr. Babar Shahbaz, Dr. Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Dr. Muhammad Iftikhar and Ms. Sony K.C. Similarly, we acknowledge others who contributed different forms of assistance to our collaborative process. The editors are thankful to Prof. Dr. Ulrike Muller-Boeker from Zurich University and Dr. Thomas Breu from University of Bern for their encouragement behind the publication of this volume. We also appreciate the continuous support of NCCR researcher Ms.Sharmila Shiwakoti during the entire course of this book’s preparation. Special thanks to Christopher Butler not only for his contribution to one of the chapters but also for editing the other chapters and providing feedback to authors. For administrative assistance, we need to acknowledge the professional support of our manager, Mr. Siddhi Manandhar (NCCR) and Mrs. Lalina Shakya, administrative officer from the School of Arts of Kathmandu University. Thanks also to you, our valuable readers, who have chosen to go through this book. We encourage your response and suggestions so that we may improve our research in future editions on this topic. Finally, we acknowledge the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) who have provided the financial means to realize this publication. The Editors May 2014, Kathmandu iv Acronyms and abbreviations AA Action Aid ADB Asian Development Bank ADS Agricultural Development Strategy AfDB African Development Fund AoA Agreement on Agriculture APP Agriculture Perspective Plan ASTI Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators AusAID Australian Agency for International Development BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CFW Cash for Work CPI Corruption Perception Index DCA Dan Church Aid DFID Department for International Development ETC Erosion, Technology and Concentration FAO Food and Agricultural Organisation FFA Food for Assets FFS Farmer Field Schools FFW Food for Work FIAN Food-first Information and Action Network GDP Gross Domestic Product GEB Genetic Engineering Biotechnology GHI Global Hunger Index GMO Genetically Modified Organisms GoN Government of Nepal ICESCR International Covenant on Economic,