Rice Crisis in Nepal (Focusing on Degrading Nature) - Research Paper Example

? Rice Crisis in Nepal (Focusing on Degrading Nature) al Affiliation: Rice Crisis in Nepal The rice crisis in Nepali can be attributed to increasing environmental degradation as well as food insecurity in the area. Food security or insecurity is crucially related to the changing patterns of claims and power over food. The issue of food security is associated with economic, political and environmental factors which have led to the rice crisis in Nepal. The recent government interventions in terms of food aid and other development initiatives with their impact on people are also a result of the rice crisis in Nepal. Historical and modern information relating to people’s living standards, food production as well as nutritional status clearly implies that the rice crisis in Nepal is increasing in effect in Karnali (Latham, 1998). For instance Karnali, where rice grows, has been experiencing underdevelopment hence the beginning of the rice crisis. The rice crisis in Karnali is associated with the hegemonic and imbalanced relationship between Kathmandu, the power center, over Karnali which is a minor region treated as a colony of Nepal. This has led to the feeling among the Karnali people that they are living under unfavorable conditions where rice is the best food. The reliance on bureaucracy in the development of the region as imposed by the ruling class is meant to favor their economic and political interest. However the ruling class share similar social group with the most Karnali people in as far as caste and ethnicity are concerned. Therefore class relations are deemed important in understanding the rice crisis and generally the food crisis within the Nepal. The increased dependency on rice among the people living in the western impoverished part of Nepal has been due to the increased food scarcity as suggested by Blaikie and Brookfield (1987). Historically people in this area used to grow a range of grains. However, the situation changed due to declining land productivity, lack of improved farming skills as well as knowledge and varying dietary habits. The low productivity of these grains such as millet, barley, rice and buckwheat has led o people depending totally on the Nepal Food Corporation which is run by the state. However, this comes at a price that the local people are unable to afford. For instance exporting a quintal of rice to Humla might cost around 160 US dollars and it usually takes almost a year to transport about three hundred quintals to Humla according to Kshetry (n.d). The rice crisis has developed due to increasing cases of workers’ strikes and the degradation of nature as evident in the bad weather. However the situation is probably bound to worsen as the government lacks a plan and initiative to handle the rice crisis in remote areas which depends on the conditions of the roads since air supply is too expensive. Similarly even with enough supply of rice and other grains in those remote areas, the people would lack the money to purchase the grains. For instance the press has released reports of people in local areas selling their utensils to purchase rice from the Nepal Food Corporation depots. The Nepal government has generally been facing a food crisis every year between June and September, with people in the rural areas having poor or no access to rice ad other grains. The hasty depletion of forest resources because of unique population growth has led to a grave environmental degradation. Population growth has led to increasing demands for pastures and forestry hence degradation of natural land according to Uprety (n.d). In Nepal there appears to exist an association between forest clearing and the population growth. This is because people need land for cultivation, timber for house building, firewood and fodder. The increased demand of these forest resources have led degrading nature which in return has led to poor land productivity hence food crisis. Nepal has been the only country with deteriorating environment in the mountains hence leading to soil erosion. It hence as a result of the soil erosion that the land loses its productivity hence low food production. Forest resources usually play an important part in maintaining ecological balance. Thus deforestation highly affects this equilibrium hence leading to environmental problems which are similarly the problems of nature. Soil erosion is also part of degrading nature. The reason behind soil erosion is the extensive exploitation of the countries natural resources due to population increase as in the case Nepal. This is because soil erosion interferes with the normal stability between man and nature. The degradation of nature has mainly occurred since the government has failed to control the fertility rate which has increased the population despite the increased mortality and morbidity rate according to Baland and Platteau (1996). It has also failed raising levels of literacy as well as balancing rural and urban population. The lack of agriculture workers since most of the Nepalese young workers go to work abroad and huge shift in dietary habits as well as shift of rice from low-food to superior food has increased the rice crisis in Nepal. This is due to the misconception among them that rice is standard food as compared to other grains which they regard as of low quality. The issue of rice crisis in Nepal is inextricably linked with the degradation of nature. This is due to the fact that when nature is not able to support agricultural activities then there comes shortage of food production particularly rices in Nepal hence the rice crisis. Soil erosion caused by deforestation is highly regarded as an agricultural limitation as suggested by Thomas (1994). In conclusion, Nepal has generally been faced by food shortage which can be attributed to the increasing degradation of nature. Nepal’s natural resources have been deployed as a result of the increasing population which the government has not managed to control. The increase in population results to increase in consumption rate and increased land exploitation which degraded the land hence there comes an imbalance between man and nature resulting to food crisis. References Blaikie, P. & Brookfield, H. (1987)Land degradation and society. London: Taylor & Francis. Baland, J.& Platteau, J. (1996) Halting degradation of natural resources: is there a role for rural communities? New York : Food & Agriculture Org. Kshetry, R.(n.d) Nepal: Dependence on Rice Adds to Food Crisis. Retrieved from http://www.theasianeye.net/en/story/nepal-dependence-rice-adds-food-crisis Latham, J. (1998)Rice: the primary commodity. London: Routledge. Thomas, C. (1994) Rio: unravelling the consequences. London: Routledge. Uprety, L. P. (n.d) Population dynamics and environmental degradation in Nepal: An Overview. Retrieved from http://himalaya.socanth.cam.ac.uk/collections/journals/opsa/pdf/OPSA_07_04.pdf Read More