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and possession came under strain with the introduc� on of private land
ownership system and systemic a� empts made to break collec� ve control
of land to allow for priva� za� on. Due to this state interven� on, indigenous
communi� es like Limbus and Tharus have become poor and food insecure
today.
Besides, some other indigenous communi� es such as Bote, Majhi,
Chepangs, Raute, Raji etc tradi� onally dependent upon forest and other
natural resources are also systema� cally denied to access their tradi� onal
means of livelihoods making them poor and more vulnerable to food
insecurity. In fact, indigenous people's food system cannot be understood
outside the context of their cultural prac� ces.
Similarly Dalits represent about 20 % of Nepalese popula� on. The Hindu
hierarchical system discriminated en� re Dalit communi� es characterizing
them as so called 'untouchables' aliena� ng them as servant class of the
society, thus systema� cally denying their access to land and other produc� ve
resources. Although untouchability was abolished in the revised Civil Code
(Muluki Ain) of 1963, discriminatory prac� ces con� nue even today barring
them to access wider livelihoods op� ons.
Due to the persistent exclusionary value system and prac� ces, all types
of produc� ve resources-land, forest and water- as well as other livelihood
opportuni� es available in the socie� es have virtually been captured by the
high-caste male elite classes. In an agrarian economy, the landed elites at
local power structure are always dominant to infl uence all sorts of decision.
Without breaking this unequal and unjust social rela� on of power at local
level it is hard to realize the food security goal of poor and excluded in Nepal.
In addi� on to the above, globaliza� on and integra� on of na� onal
economies to the interna� onal markets and corporate world has widened
inequality. With the adop� on of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) in
mid 1980s, nearly 30 years of rampant hegemony of the market-led model of
economic growth has been in prac� ce in Nepal that has clearly demonstrated
the increased privileges for the few, increased concentra� on of wealth in
hands of few elites and increased inequality resul� ng into persistent problem
of chronic poverty and food insecurity. Besides, recurrent fl oods, landslides,
drought and other nature induced catastrophes and associated crop losses
also contribute to some extent to the food insecurity and hunger problems
of Nepal. However, most of such incidences induce short-term crisis.
Tackling Food Insecurity
From the foregone discussion, it is obvious that food insecurity is the
prominent development challenge of Nepal. The Government of Nepal
and the external development partners seem to be aware of the gravity of
this issue and have launched several schemes to address the problem. The
mainstream interven� ons of food security- carried out by both the state
and non-state actors can broadly be divided into two categories Produc� on
promo� onal interven� ons- such as income genera� ng ac� vi� es Subsidized
food provisioning The food insecurity problem of Nepal largely bears
Changing paradigms of aid eff ec� veness in Nepal 171