South Asia Watch
on Trade, Economics & Environment (SAWTEE) in coordination with Oxfam
organized a national consultation workshop on “Impact of the Earthquake on Food
Security and Livelihood on Urban Poor in Nepal” and “Impact of Climate Change
on Agriculture Adaptation Practices and Gender”. The objective of the workshop
was to disseminate the findings of the two studies and to gather suggestions.
Chief Guest of
the Session, Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada, Vice-Chairman of the National Planning
Commission recognized the growing importance of urban poverty and reiterated
government’s commitment to address the issue. He argued that focus should be
towards changing people’s food habits and incentivizing urban farming to
achieve better food security.
Chairing the
opening session, Dr. Posh Raj Pandey, Chairman, SAWTEE identified inequality,
terrorism, natural disasters and climate change as the four most global
challenges. He highlighted that the major earthquakes that struck Nepal
threatened the livelihood of thousands of households in the affected districts,
and argued that the government’s action plan in response to the disasters does
not adequately focus on the urban poor. Speaking on climate change, he
highlighted that effects of climate change are getting more pronounced and
impact of such effects are likely to be felt more in hills and mountains of
Nepal. Thus, he stressed that impact assessment of these areas is crucial to
understand the impact of climate change in the region.
Presenting the
findings of the study on impact of earthquake on food security, Ms. Neelu
Thapa, Programme Coordinator at SAWTEE, mentioned that the loss of income and
agricultural land has made food security the most important challenge for the
urban poor affected by the earthquake. She highlighted the need for various
short-, medium-, and long term measures including cash-transfers, food for work
and provision of financial services to assist the urban poor affected by the
earthquake. Valuable inputs were provided by Mr. Gopi Khanal, Joint Secretary at
Ministry of Local Development and Mr. Yuvraj Ghimire, Chief Editor, Annapurna
Post as discussants of the session.
In the
subsequent session, Mr. Shaleen Khanal, Research Officer at SAWTEE, presented
the findings of another study on the impact of climate change on agriculture
adaptation practices and gender. Based on the study conducted in Mustang, he
highlighted the changes in agriculture productivity and evolving cropping
patterns throughout the region in response to climate change. He further
pointed the climate change adaptation practices in the district had negatively
affected women who now faced increasing workload. Ms. Sabnam Shiwakoti,
Programme Director, Ministry of Agricultural Development; and Ms. Shuvechha
Khadka, Senior Researcher at Institute for Social and Environmental Transition
provided valuable feedback as the discussants of the session.
Closing the
session, Dr. Hiramani Ghimire, Executive Director of SAWTEE suggested that
climate change related adaptation and mitigation efforts should be approached
in a holistic manner, with coordinated efforts by the various governmental and
non-governmental agencies involved.
Altogether more
than 50 experts from the public, non-government and academic sector
participated in the event.
Programme Agenda
Presentations:
Impact
of Earthquake
on Food Security and Livelihoods
Impact
of Climate Change on Agriculture Adaptation Practices and Gender -Case Study of Mustang
