- Susmita Lamichhane
COVID-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time and the greatest challenge we have faced since World War 2. The outbreak of the pandemic has been suspected throughout entire global society. Whole world has become the victim of this virus. Countries are racing to slow the spread of the virus by testing and treating patients, carrying out contact tracing, limiting travel, quarantining citizens, and cancelling large gatherings such as sporting events, concerts, and schools. The pandemic is moving like a wave, one that may yet crash on those least able to cope.
Every day, people are losing jobs and income, with no way of knowing when normality will return. Small island nations, heavily dependent on tourism, have empty hotels and deserted beaches. This pandemic has affected normal living standard, political, economic, social, health status of the society. There has appeared economic crisis from all the way. Both developed and developing country have become the victim of it. Beside all these developmental factor, mortality rate of people due to this virus has reached to the top.
Nepal being a landlocked developing country, depending upon neighbor country for the fulfillment of the basic needs is cladding severe economic crisis along with the region of terrible wealth and food shortage, as the major economy dependent on agriculture and tourism. We are forced to depend upon neighbor country for minor and minor things. So, in order to shield ourselves and the whole nation through this pandemic we need to step forward to the point where we can work out to fulfill the present need and avert the future risk and challenges.
Though government is reinforcing to get rid of this stage, still no any genuine strategy has worked to solve it. Day by day, this pandemic is dispersing all-round the state. The major problem throughout this pandemic have been economic crisis and food shortage. Nepal is an agricultural country and is dependent for the food needs, employment of the people and the economy as a whole. Recent agricultural development in Nepal has been decreased and its contribution to the gross domestic products (GDP) has declined.
Though Nepal is tagged as the agricultural nations, the involvement of people in this occupation is just minimal. Those who are involved, also are unable to cultivate in commercial scale due to this pandemic. Simply we can say, this pandemic has badly impacted in the agricultural sector resulting in food crisis and hunger.
Weak agricultural growth, primarily subsistence in nature, fragmentation of land, plotting for industrial purpose is the major limiting factor for arising of such problems. Beside this pandemic situation, the weak agricultural growth, characterized by stagnation in production of major cereal crops, has made more of the households to be vulnerable in meeting their self-food needs. Most of the households in the hills and mountains annually experience food deficit from their own production. Poverty and food insecurity are closely interrelated and the poor in Nepal constitute the largest food insecure group. With 85% of the total population living in rural area. Many of the rural poor are smallholders with landholdings less than 0.5ha and or landless people seeking to sell their labor in various activities to secure their food needs. So, until we become self- reliant on the resources which we have it is very difficult to get rid of prevailing problems of food shortage and upcoming risk and uncertainties. Therefore, we need to become self-dependent for most of our basic needs and necessities that we can easily achieve if we have interest on it.
Therefore, self-reliant can be a remedial measure to overcome the prevailing problem of economic crisis and food shortage. Not only this, self-reliant and self-dependency situation create the food self-sufficiency condition in country where 60.4% population is engaged in agriculture. Though the economically distanced people used to suffer from this crisis every year, this pandemic has added more on it.
The impact of COVID-19 in Nepal, has started to make daily life difficult and most challenging. The long running lockdown, sealed borders are causing inconvenience to different sectors like agriculture, trade and business. People who used to earn their income through business, trade and other occupation rather than agriculture is supposed to suffer a lot. The production and distribution of agricultural products have been disrupted.
The major trade of Nepal is linked with India. But due to the sealed border and this disseminating pandemic the import and export of the major goods through the neighboring nation have been almost stopped. So, we obviously estimate that Nepal is going to suffer from the huge loss and the major food crisis in upcoming days.
The only solution to get rid from this problem is creating the situation so that we can be self-sufficient in food. It is the condition of being able to meet consumption needs (particularly for staple food crops) from own production rather than by buying or importing. It means country abjuring all food trade and relying 100% on domestic food production to meet its food need. And this has been the most needed phenomena in the recent pandemic situation. Until and unless we don’t become food self-sufficient, we are supposed to suffer from the hunger in upcoming future. Mostly the cities areas on Nepal is more prone to agonize from it as this area has higher population density and with low fragmented land for food production. So, from this we can simply learn, we needn’t to depend upon foreign nation for fulfilling our basic requirement. Rather than importing the goods, perishable commodity, we can start farming from our kitchen garden. To become food self-sufficient, we don’t need huge acre of lands. we can easily produce agricultural products using local resources, indigenous skill, knowledge and techniques. Simply, interest of our matters. If we wish we can grow food that can be sufficient for fulfilling the needs of our family members. Without self-reliant, we can’t deal with such crisis.
While being agrarian country, suffering from the problem of food shortage has become a nightmare in itself. In urban areas where there is lack of arable land, food is not available until food grains arrive from Terai, even in such area’s daily necessities (agriculture product) can be grown using the remaining space around the home periphery and space of roof. By doing this, the problem of the food crisis can be eliminated somehow. Not only this, the uncultivated and farrow land since long time ago can be utilized from where we can obtain fresh and healthy organic commodity from our own land.
We know well, importing goods from farther country means, evolving chance of importing the virus too, so if we emphasize ourself towards self-sufficiency risk from the imported goods can be minimized. Yearly Nepal invest huge amount of budget in importing goods, encouraging ourself for food self-sufficient means reducing budget for importing, which directly plays an important role in uplifting the country’s economy. Beside all this lockdown have created lot of free and leisure time for people which create employment opportunity if people themselves involve in agriculture works. Indigenous and locally available and materials can be utilized.
Thus, we can conclude that food self-sufficiency is only the way to prevent the nation and the nationality from the starvation in present days and upcoming future. Until and unless we introduce ourself as self-reliant and self-sufficient we are more prone to suffer from hunger and food crisis. Beside all the, developing ourself through this factor means strengthen the backbone of country, uplifting the economic status of nation as well as safe guarding the nation against this pandemic. Although we repeatedly go on saying food self-sufficiency, its importance and so on, it is not so easy as we think, lot of efforts need to be made in order to succeed it.
So, we being the youth it’s our responsibility to move our step towards achieving such goals and developing the nation as food self- sufficient nation. Each individual, family, society, community and the whole nation need to work out on it as the major issue in the recent days. Lastly what we can say is, the problem of food insecurity can never be solved by the effort of a single individual. For that, we need the joint support and action of consumers, farmers, traders and government as well. Let’s become self-reliant, self-sufficient furnish the nation and win the battle of this biological pandemic with agriculture revolution.
(Author is 6th semester student of Paklihawa Krishi Campus)
