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13
Food prices, food
security and aid
–Chandan Sapkota
The global food prices have been rising rapidly and have exceeded all
levels recorded in the past. Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organiza� on’s
(FAO) Food Price Index surpassed the upper bound reached during the peak
of the food crisis in 2008 (see Figure 1). The World Bank says global food crisis
has reached “dangerous levels”. In Nepal, the World Food Programme (WFP)
argues that about 3.7 million people are at risk of food insecurity (Sapkota,
2011a) even though the government maintains that the na� on as a whole
will have food surplus of about 110,000 tonnes in fi scal year 2010/11 (TKP,
2011). Sadly, the increase in output is not refl ected on rising food prices,
which have reached the second highest level since 1990. 1 Yet s� ll 38 districts
in Nepal are having defi cit food produc� on.
1. See ‘Update on food security in Nepal (2010-11 is surplus year) at h� p:// sapkotac.
blogspot.com/2011/06/update-on-food-security-in-nepal-2010.html
Changing paradigms of aid eff ec� veness in Nepal 159