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secure access to suffi cient amounts of safe and nutri� ous food required for
normal, ac� ve and healthy life. If a household or individual faces defi ciency in
minimum food requirements only for a short-period of � me generally arising
from natural and human induced catastrophes such as natural disasters, wars
and confl ict, it is regarded as the short-term or transitory food insecurity.
A situa� on emerged as a long-term or persistent inability of individuals or
households to meet minimum food consump� on requirements is regarded
as chronic food insecurity.
A chronically food insecure household is generally deprived in mul� ple
dimensions- combina� ons of capability depriva� on, low levels of material
assets, and socio-poli� cal marginality making them unable to secure
minimum food consump� on requirements over long periods. Such a
situa� on is generally associated with the structural factors which frame the
availability, access, u� liza� on and stability dimensions of food security. It is
important to note here that the natural and human-induced catastrophes
are normally responsible for around 10 percent only of all hungry and
malnourished people in the world; while 90 percent of the hungry suff er
from chronic food insecurity 3 .
Food Security Situa� on of Nepal
Over the past decade, food security has emerged as one of the prominent
policy issues in development debates in Nepal. A number of reasons have
brought the ques� on into sharp focus in later years. The media’s spotlight
on food shortages, starva� on and malnourishment in various districts of the
country, growing ac� vism of NGOs against the plight of the hungry, visible
impacts of globaliza� on on agriculture and farmers—all make this issue
prominent in policy discourses.
Food and nutri� on security situa� on of Nepal is grim as the country is
persistently failing to adequately feed more than a quarter of total popula� on.
It is es� mated that nearly 7 million out of about 27 million popula� ons of
Nepal go to bed hungry every day in 2010 4 . Nearly 40 percent of children
below the age of fi ve suff er from protein-energy malnourishment 5 .
As nearly 96 percent of hungry poor live and work in rural areas 6 , it is
predominantly a rural phenomenon in Nepal. Substan� al dispari� es exist by
caste, ethnicity, gender and geographic regions also. Generally, dalits, ethnic
minori� es and women are more vulnerable to hunger than other groups.
Due to prevalence of caste and gender-based discrimina� on these groups
are deprived of resources, opportuni� es in virtually all aspects of daily life
resul� ng with lower levels of human and produc� ve capital.
3. FAO (2006). The State of Food and Agriculture. Food Aid for Food Security? Rome: Food
and Agriculture Organiza� on of the United Na� ons
4. WFP (2009). A Sub-regional Hunger Index for Nepal.
5. Na� onal Planning Commission (2010). Nepal Millennium Development Goals Progress
Report.
6. Central Bureau of Sta� s� cs (2009). Report on the Nepal Labour Force Survey.
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Changing paradigms of aid eff ec� veness in Nepal