NeKSAP and Food Security Monitoring

Food Security is a cross-cutting issue. Due to it's multidimensional nature, the precise measurement of it's status takes much effort. There are many initiative to measure the food security in Nepal. NeKSAP is one of the established food security monitoring system with it's wider area of coverage.

Nepal Khadya Surakchya AnugamanPranali ( NeKSAP) is an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification ( IPC) based food security monitoring system operating in Nepal. UnitedNations World Food Program (UN-WFP), Nepal launched this in Nepal. Currently, it is working in collaboration of WFP and Ministry of Agricultural Development. It is under institutionalization in government system. Therefore, handing over from WFP and taking over by Government is going on. 

NeKSAP uses both household as well as area based classification system. The smallest unit of analysis is generally Village Development Committee (VDC) in case of area and individual household in case of household classification. The household classification is conducted using information collected from household survey using standard  questionnaire in each trimester of an year. Likewise, for area classification, NeKSAP is working in 72  out of 75 districts of Nepal, except three districts of Kathamandu Valley. Acute state of food insecurity is analysed using phase classification system of IPC. All the relevant stakeholders in a district sit together and classify an area into specific phase based on some evidence.Altogether 17 following indicators are used to assess FS status of an area.  

1.    Food Consumption

2.    Livelihood Change (and Coping strategies)

3.  Acute child malnutrition (6-59m), wasting as per the prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM)

4.    Crop production situation

5.    Food stock at household level

6.    Stock of main staples in key markets (food availability in the market)

7.    Employment opportunities within and neighbouring districts

8.    Income through sales: NTFP, cash/high value crops, and small enterprises

9.    Income: meat, milk, egg, fish, honey

10.  Market price of main staple like rice, wheat flour, and others.

11. Remittances

12. Human disease incidence, and epidemics

13. Water supply for drinking, sanitation

14. Out-migration (stress induced)

15. Civil security (social violence, and bandh/blockade)

16. Climatic hazards: floods, landslides, dry spell, snowfall, hailstorm , and strong wind

17. Disaster: Earthquake, fire

These Indicators are based on all the four dimensions of food security Viz Food Availability, Food Access, Food Utilization and Stability.Based on these indicators an area is classified in to five phases.

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 4	Phase 5
Minimal Food Insecure	Moderately Food In-secured (or Stressed)	Highly Food Insecure(or Crisis)	Severely Food Insecure (or Emergency)	Humanitarian emergency/Famine(or Declared famine)

The description of each phase is as described below.

Phase	NeKSAP Phase names	Equivalent phases IPC V2	Description
I	Minimal Food Insecure	Minimal	Households with secure food and non-food needs without shifting  or changing livelihood strategies. These households are capable of adjusting small scale stresses caused by hazards, disasters, shocks, epidemics and conflicts or violence by means of existing social, natural and economic capital.
II	Moderately Food Insecure (or Stressed)	Stressed	Households meet minimal food with traditional coping, but are unable to afford some essential non-food expenditures without engaging in irreversible coping strategies.
III	Highly Food Insecure (or Crisis)	Crisis	Households with food consumption gaps  high or above usual acute malnutrition. Or meet minimal food needs only with accelerated depletion of livelihood assets - lead to food consumption gaps.
IV	Severely Food Insecure (or Emergency)	Emergency	Households unable to meet food and non-food needs without losing livelihood assets. This induces very high acute malnutrition leading to high morbidity, mortality and shortened life expectancy. Probable high level of violence and movement restriction due to conflict. Some immediate interventions and assistance required.
V	Humanitarian Emergency (or Declared Famine)	Famine	Almost all households have an extreme lack of food and other basic needs where starvation, destitutions, irreversible loss of capital resources and loss of lives are evident. Households of the whole areas are challenged by acute shortage of food and other basic needs - hazards, disasters, epidemics or destruction of infrastructure, disturbances of services. Immediate humanitarian assistance required.

Based on this classification, food security phase map are prepared for an area. A map of phase classification of Nepal for period of Mid Nov 2013 to Mid March 2014 is shown as below.

(Image from , neksap.org.np, food security bulletine:41). Present work to institutionalize NeKSAP system in government system has great importance. If the NeKSAP is totally established in government system , it works as a evidence for designing food security related issues at policy level.  Ultimately, food security related response work both at local and central level will be immediate and effective.

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Barriers to Food Sovereignty in Nepal

{ Image from :Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 15, 2012 — The People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) }

Interim Constitution of Nepal has placed food Sovereignty as fundamental right of people and supposed to be legislated in upcoming constitution. Nevertheless, many obstacles in policy and implementation  are discernible to establish food sovereignty in Nepal.

As a signatory of World Trade Organization(WTO) agreement with Open Market Policy, Nepal has policy to minimize subsidies and  make it zero in coming days. This will definitely strike at protection of farmers, mostly small and marginal farmers. As, the cost of cultivation is high in those farmers, this will encourage they to quit the profession. It has two fold effects, production will be lower and employment is reduced.

The priority of corporate world has elevated by many degrees now in farming sector.  Their capacity to fetch advance technology made this possible.Their target is to get high profit in short span of time. Therefore, many factor's like maintaining biodiversity, maintaining soil and environmental quality are not prioritized. As a result of which, the system may lose it's sustainability. Another weapon of corporate invasion and control over food system is burgeoning supermarkets.Use of junk food, fast food and  processed food has increased tremendously, which has also promoted the supermarkets.

World Trade Organization itself is blamed for affecting the food sovereignty of a nation. First, market access has made the Least Developed Countries (LDC) to compete with products of developed nation. Due to which the labor intensive ( high cost) production system of LDCs never can challenge the products of developed nations in price. This will obviously be discouragement for farming in those countries, badly affecting the food sovereignty.

Corporate bio-piracy is another issue with food sovereignty.Many piracy are being in name of Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right (TRIPS) . This can lead ,farmers growing varieties or rearing breeds from many years have to pay royalty, discouraging them for farming.

Many factors are playing vital role to lose the biodiversity, which may ultimately lead adverse effect on environment and agricultural system. Boosting productivity is regular challenge to agriculture sector. Technological innovations are put forth to enhance the productivity. A latest of them is a biotechnology called  Genetically Modified Organism (GMO), whereby productivity is found to have increased. However, it has come with major limitation, mostly due to antagonistic effect on human health and challenging the diversity of indigenous crops. Likewise, due to commercialization in major crops, practices of mono-culture is increasing, resulting loss of biodiversity.Contract farming itself is creating barrier to food sovereignty. All the forces are diverted to obtain much gain from expected growing crop and minor crops are ignored.

Scientists are working and getting success on using agro-fuel as alternative energy of fossil fuels. Governments in US and Europe are giving subsidy to farmers for agro-fuel. As a result of this,  huge productive land is used for production  of bio-fuels. This may may effect other countries, which are dependent on them for food.

Global warming and Climate change due to Carbon emission is new challenge to Food Sovereignty. It has changed the cropping pattern and indigenous crops are under climatic threats. Biodiversity has lost by many degrees. The issue of sustainability is thus challenged creating new barrier for Food Sovereignty.

In conclusion, developing and maintaining food sovereignty is great challenge to developing and least developed country like Nepal. If attempts are not made immediately, country can suffer badly in days to come.

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Is WTO Dying ?

(Logo from www.wto.org )
Recent veto from India on Trade Facilitation Agreement ( TFA ), has created a debate over future of World Trade Organization (WTO).  General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT ), the parent of WTO was formed in 1948 and WTO was instituted amalgamating 26 pre-existing agreements in 1995. No new agreement has been signed by any members of WTO in these 19 years of establishment. Therefore, this deal on TFA is really crucial  for sustainability of WTO. In this scenario, Indian denial to TFA was a blow to death of WTO- many countries and analyst presuming-.

What was Indian reservation? Major concern for this denial was issue of subsidy on agriculture and food security. The WTO rule says the total value  of food subsidy limit is 10 percent of total production, considering 1986 as base year. Besides, the base price of product is at 1986-88 level whereas subsidy price is at current rate. According to Times of India , subsidy to rice is at 9 % in India and slightly lower in case of wheat. These are expected to grow in future by crossing it's ceiling of 10 % imposed by WTO, as Food Security Act is  in hand and more Minimum Support Price policy is being practiced. India is opposing saying that rule with which food subsidy limit was imposed is outdated. Developing nation has huge amount of Below Poverty Line (BPL) population, so more subsidy has to given in food for their protection. If such subsidy is not given, food security of people is badly affected.

This TFA has to be signed and initiated by 2015 by India. As India has failed to sign on 31 July, 2014 deadline, Inidan official are saying that if concerns are addressed, this can be sign in September,  according to Reuters. India and other developing nations like South Africa had raised the issue of food security/subsidy in the ministerial conference at Bali in 2013. There was consensus that by 2017 the issue of food subsidy will be solved and India will sign on TFA by July 31, 2014. However, currently India wants both the TFA and subsidy agreement has to go parallel.

We have to wait till December,2014 for the result of this. However, the issue depicts the importance of  food policy and WTO's role , especially to developing  and least developed nation. This has to be taken seriously and a win win decision is needed. As a result of which, WTO will sustain and can maintain it's provisions in one hand and in another hand issue of food security of developing and least developed country will be addressed.

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