<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203229c7e80680e0b27f0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1944" height="1098"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>In the heart of Edinburgh near the Church of St John the Evangelist is <a href="https://www.oneworldshop.co.uk/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.oneworldshop.co.uk/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1641433168882000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2DlDyvp0funtWsI3daY8Bf">One World Shop</a>, a modest-looking store that sells goods from all over the world.Among the products are ‘<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/made-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Made in Nepal</a>’ sweaters, mufflers, felted slippers, and beanies which are flying off the shelves this winter. There are also Nepali handicraft items, lokta paper products, herbal bath soaps and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/clothed-in-cannabis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hemp products</a> for sale.But the items are not as much for profit as they are for the international promotion of fair trade handmade goods made by women in poorer communities to improve their livelihood with added income. The store, a fair trade organisation set up in 1983, sources most of its Nepali products from the Association for Craft Producers and Get Paper Industry in Kathmandu."Our goal is to empower women and alleviate poverty through diversification of livelihood options," explains Rachel Farey, business manager of the One World Shop which also sponsors Nepali women to be trained at institutes in the UK. “We buy goods only when we confirm that they were made by women in need, or if they are somehow involved in manufacturing.”Farey comes from a family with a long-standing connection with Nepal. Her uncle was former Gurkha officer <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9296#.YdRS8C8RqLd" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D9296%23.YdRS8C8RqLd&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1641433168882000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2zTu5ZxUmpVaWi0pbRP35h">Mike Cheney</a>, a pioneer figure in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/trekking-in-Nepal-turns-50,2658" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s trekking</a> and mountaineering scene during the 1970s, who set up Sherpa Cooperative to ensure that porters had proper working conditions.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203259c7e80680e0b27f1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="971"><figcaption>Mike Cheney</figcaption></figure>Cheney had served in the British Army from 1946 to 1957 in the Royal Armoured Corps and the 10th Gurkha Rifles. After retiring from active service, he became a tea-estate manager in Darjeeling, and came to Kathmandu in 1965 for the first time and continued working in a tea estate in Ilam.He then turned to Nepal’s fledgling trekking industry, and in 1966 joined forces with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hiking-with-jimmy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jimmy Roberts</a> who had set up <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-himalayan-odyssey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mountain Travel Nepal</a>, the first registered trekking company in the world. In his later years, Cheney concentrated his efforts on promoting the country as a household name in the climbing and mountaineering industry.“Mike Cheney showed Nepal the way ahead, connecting the country to the rest of the world at a time when it was not easy to market a new destination, while at the same time making sure that porters got a good deal,” says tourism entrepreneur Karma Sherpa Lama in Kathmandu.Cheney was vocal about <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4747#.YdT8di2B2b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">low-paid porters</a> carrying heavy leads during mountaineering and trekking expeditions and worked to raise living standards by setting an example with his Sherpa Cooperative. He made sure that porters were paid higher wages, had proper gear for high altitudes, and were taken care of if they fell sick.Cheney’s other major contribution was in scouting new trekking routes across Nepal, away from already <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/managing-everests-waste-problem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">crowded Everest</a> and Annapurna areas, and improving the trails. Cheney was also a correspondent for several alpine journals and mountaineering magazines in Europe and the United States.Cheney was an active member of the Himalayan Rescue Association with its clinic in Pheriche, and the Trekking Agents’ Association of Nepal. He was the Local Hon Secretary of the Bombay-based Himalayan Club, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Alpine Club.Now, his niece Farey is following in his footsteps and is committed to helping Nepali women and children through her store One World Shop in Edinburgh which sells a wide range of handmade crafts, jewelry, textiles, interior furnishings, furniture, toys, clothing, ceramics, handmade paper products, cards, books and foods.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203289c7e80680e0b27f2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1700" height="802"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>“Our mission is to reduce poverty by sourcing and selling fair trade goods from all around the world,” says Farey. “It is not just the individual artisans who make the goods that benefit from our work, but also their families and the communities in which they live.”Like her uncle, Farey is also a passionate trekker herself and has visited Nepal often. She says that in a way she is carrying on Mike Cheney’s mission: to uplift Nepali families by removing middlemen and guaranteeing them a just income.For Farey ‘fair trade’ is not just a concept, she is actually practicing it in her business through One World Shop which sources and sells sustainably produced products from around the world by ensuring a decent price which is ploughed back into their communities.During the pandemic, One World Shop was selling its products online even though supplies from Nepal were disrupted because of flight cancellations.

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Edinburgh store comes full circle to Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d032c9c7e80680e0a36bajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Bhuvan Kharel and his father Yadav Kharel were inseparable but earlier this year the young boy lost his father to Covid-19. All photos: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>Eight-year-old Bhuvan Kharel used to start his day with a glass of milk in bed brought to him by his father. Yadav Kharel would then prepare a lunch box for his son, drop him off at school and in the afternoon bring him back home.Born to the Kharel couple in Panchkhal of Kavre<a name="m_-7349375543753954955__GoBack"></a> district after 12 years of marriage, Yadav raised his son with care and affection. He used to carry the boy on his back to and from school every day. Bhuvan was equally attached to his Dad, they were inseparable. But on 2 June 2020, Bhuvan lost his father to Covid-19. Since then, the boy has withdrawn from friends and stopped going outdoors. He has lost his appetite and rarely speaks. The fourth-grader at a school in Panchkhal was a class topper, but has now lost his  enthusiasm for studies. <figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d032f9c7e80680e0a36bbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“He used to revise his lessons every morning and evening with his dad. But without him, he has lost interest in everything,” says his mother Laxmi, who is yet to pay Rs250,000 in hospital bills and another Rs50,000 she borrowed for the last rites of her husband.Yadav wanted to see his son grow up with a good education but Laxmi is now struggling with schooling Bhuvan with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-epidemic-of-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limited income</a>. She says, “How can a single mother without an income give her son a better future?”--<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03329c7e80680e0a36bcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bishnu Tamang <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-story-of-nepals-first-covid-19-fatality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">died of Covid-19 at Dhulikhel Hospital</a> in July, 18 days after giving birth to a son. Her husband Min Bahadur Tamang was then infected and in isolation. The couple’s daughters Anju, 12, and Aarti, 10, have now taken it upon themselves to raise their newborn brother.  “My eldest gets up at 5 in the morning to feed and clothe her brother, washes his diapers and looks after him until he sleeps at night,” says Min Bahadur. “Since getting Covid, I haven’t been able to regain my health, and my own parents are old. These two daughters do everything to  take care of the family.”Anju, who is in 6th grade, has not been able to touch her books for months. When her mother was alive, she and her sister helped their mother. Now they have to do everything themselves, and there is no time for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-the-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">online classes</a>. Min Bahadur knows he has to send his daughters back to school, but he has lost his job as a driver. He says: “It will probably take over a year for me to pay off my Covid treatment costs, how will I educate my children?” --<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03359c7e80680e0a36bdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>At 20, Rajkumar BK is already the sole guardian of three younger siblings. First, he lost his mother to Covid in August 2020, then his father earlier this year. “My father was depressed after my mother passed away. One day when no one was at home, he set himself on fire,” recalls Rajkumar.Unable to raise them all, Rajkumar left two older siblings in the care of a relative and got married at 20 to support his family. He exchanged his dreams of higher studies for cheap labour and now works at a handicraft shop in Lalitpur’s Gwarko earning Rs12,000 a month. His 16-years-old brother Shyam is undergoing training to repair mobile phones. Rajkumar is already deep in debt building the house after the fire from his father’s suicide and his mother’s hospital bills.Adds Rajkumar: “I couldn’t continue my studies, but I thought at least my siblings could go to school. But after losing also my father, I don’t think I can do it anymore.” --<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03389c7e80680e0a36bejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Divindra Tamang died of Covid at Kathmandu Medical College in May. His two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Rubina still does not know that her father is gone. Every time she hears a car pass by, she rushes out of the house, looking for her father who was a driver. "He always honked when he came back from work, so whenever she heard a horn, she thought he might have returned," says Rubina's mother Rupa, who had married Divindra only three years ago.After their daughter was born, Divindra had bought insurance for Rs900,000 for Rubina’s higher studies, and wanted her to become a nurse. “It is time to pay the Rs25,000 annual premium, but after buying food and paying rent there is no money,” says Rupa.--Siblings Rupa, Susmita, Usha and Rupak Sunar range in age from 3 to 15. They first lost their father to asthma and then mother to Covid in the last three years. With no one to take care of them, the children are now at the SOS Children’s Village in Kavre. --Nearly 11,000 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-uneven-covid-19-deaths/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepalis have lost their lives to Covid-19</a> since the outbreak began in January 2020, most of them in the age group 20-50, but there are also children under 18. Hundreds of children have become orphans in the wake of the pandemic.There are no reliable statistics since the country does not have a proper child protection system at local government level.  So far, data from only 32 out of 753 local municipalities have been recorded, where 224 children have lost their parents, seven of them lost both fathers and mothers.“The rescue, assistance and protection of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/children-are-collateral-damage-in-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">children</a> without parents cannot be done on time because of the lack of data,” says Milan Raj Dharel, executive director of the National Child Rights Council (NCRC). “We estimate that we are missing more than a thousand children who have lost their parents.”The NCRC says it is paying for the support of orphaned children at the recommendation of the local levels. But local wards and village councils have not come forward with records of children despite written letters to do so, adds Dharel.Losing parents at a young age has left the children mentally vulnerable and at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/post-pandemic-mental-health-epidemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">heightened risk of psychological illnesses</a>. Bhuvan Kharel, 8, has taken to locking himself in his room and inflicting self-harm.“He has four cuts on his hand,” says his worried mother, Laxmi. She is too busy taking care of the family’s needs to attend to her son.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7iEEYDpoCY“Children are often most affected by conflicts, epidemics, accidents, and their young minds are highly vulnerable, which in turn affects their personality development,” says psychiatrist Prasad Ojha. “The uneasiness they show in their behaviour when a family loses a member is called a neurotic disorder. ”Orphaned children feel alone, insecure, are scared and angry, and often unable to sleep and have panic attacks. Depending on their personality, some like to be alone while others become restless.“The family should keep the children busy, play together, develop a routine and make them follow it,” says Arun Kunwar, a psychiatrist at Kanti Children’s Hospital in Kathmandu.Child experts also recommend not telling children about financial stress in the family, or hiding the death of the parent. “If you lie to children, they will continue to wait for them causing further confusion and stress, which in turn can increase the risk of depression, running away, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-sees-spike-in-suicides-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suicide attempts</a>, and addiction," adds Ojha.The Children's Act 2019/20 has a provision of a child rights committee at every province and local level in addition to a child welfare officer. It also stipulates establishing a child fund for immediate rescue, relief, rehabilitation of and compensation for children.But less than 10% of local governments have abided by the Act, which means there are no reliable records about the condition and the number of orphans, homeless and needy children who need rescue and protection.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d033b9c7e80680e0a36bfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Last year, NCRC formulated an action plan to protect and manage the children who have lost their parents to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-real-cost-of-nepals-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19</a> and came up with two strategies: for the 800-900 of children with relatives to provide a social security allowance of Rs30,000, and to place children who have no one to care for them in shelters.For this, the Council is re-examining and verifying the recorded 224 orphaned children from 32 local municipalities and is planning to construct 10 alternative care centres for them.But despite the plan, the budget has not been allocated by the Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens because it does not have a minister since Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/government-in-installments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">yet to expand his Cabinet</a> more than two months after taking office.However, spokesperson Umesh Dhugana at the ministry says: “The program hasn’t stalled in lack of a minister. The cabinet will decide on the programs to ensure the protection and management of the children.”(Translated by Sonia Awale from the the Nepali original in the September-October issue of Himal Khabarpatrika.)

Helping Nepal’s Covid orphans

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141132/636cfdb39c7e80680e0a0bfcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="2000"/><figcaption>Photo: WWF NEPAL</figcaption></figure>As the Covid crisis pushes <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-real-cost-of-nepals-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">millions of Nepalis back below the poverty line</a> affecting their nutritional status, the UK government is funding supplemental food for mothers and children affected by the monsoon and Covid-19 pandemic in Nepal.The additional £788,000 (Rs130 million) will allow the World Food Programme (WFP) to support 100,000 mothers and children with specialised nutritional supplement 'super cereal' for two months in eight districts in Province 2, Sunsari in Province 1, Jajarkot in Karnali and Kanchanpur in Far West. Mothers in target areas will also receive counselling on Covid-19 and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/hunger-for-governance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nutrition</a>.“Natural hazards affect marginalised communities disproportionately, including women and children. Protecting the health of the Nepali people is a top priority for the UK Government,” says Nathanael Bevan, Director of Development at the British Embassy in Kathmandu. “The UK is glad to be supporting WFP’s efforts to make sure vulnerable Nepalis, especially mothers and children, receive proper food and nutrition.”The Covid crisis has reversed Nepal’s gains in poverty reduction and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-epidemic-of-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">childhood malnutrition</a> achieved in the past ten years.Children as well as pregnant and breastfeeding months in rural Nepal are among the hardest hit by the pandemic. Currently, over 15% of households in Nepal are food insecure, while around 39% of children between 6 to 23 months do not meet minimum dietary requirements.A WFP report earlier this year found that Nepal had up to 1.84 million pregnant and lactating women who were malnourished. This in turn affects the growth of their children as they receive <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-pandemic-of-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inadequate nutrition</a> even before they are born.And as newborns they get mothers’ milk lacking in nutrition, leading to a greater risk of dying before the age of five. More than one-third of children under five face stunted growth.Many of the older children also relied on school lunches for a nutritious meals but <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-the-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prolonged school closure</a> means that they are also deprived of this.In addition to reduced food intake, children and young mothers have been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/children-are-collateral-damage-in-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unable to access health services and immunisation facilities</a> for the better part of the last year and a half due to restrictions of the movement.“The pandemic and its socio-economic impact have put unrelenting pressure on Nepali families’ food security. Between December 2020 and June 2021, the number of households experiencing income loss has doubled – from 21 to 45% – making food increasingly out of reach for many,” says WFP Nepal Country director Jane Pearce. “This aid will enable us to reach the most vulnerable mothers and children whose lives have been made harder by Covid and now the monsoon.”Since the start of the first nationwide lockdown on 24 March 2020, and the subsequent widespread disruption to normal economic activity, Nepalis have faced increased strain on household income, directly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/quarter-of-nepalis-still-hungry-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impacting their food intake</a>.In fact, they have reported increased job losses and a reduction in income over the past year and a half. While in December 2020, 5% of households reported job loss, it was nearly 14% in June 2021. Similarly, 21% of households reported a reduction in income in December 2020 while it was 45% in June 2021.But most families have received <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/half-of-nepalis-lost-jobs-in-past-month/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">little to no support from the government</a> to tide them over the long months of pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.Moreover, Nepal is one of the most vulnerable countries to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/disasters-in-nepal-come-in-waves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">natural calamities and the impacts of climate change</a>, tens of thousands of people are displaced by the floods and landslides every monsoon in lack of timely preparedness.A part of the contribution will also go to help WFP conduct a new round of cross-country household food security surveys. This funding is in addition to the £4.49 million (Rs678 million) WFP received from the UK Government in December 2020 towards the agency’s response to Covid-19.

UK aid for Nepali mothers and children

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b94279c7e80680e06f1e3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2540" height="1426"/><figcaption>Richshaw operator Kancha Lama hardly gets one ride a day. He mostly depends on people distributing free food during the lockdown.</figcaption></figure>After two months in which there were new records of cases and fatalities every day, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-covid-19-lockdown-relaxed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appears to be cresting in Nepal</a>, but it has left the economy in ruins with a crisis-ridden government offering no hope to citizens.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/we-knew-the-tsunami-was-approaching/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">At its peak in mid-May</a>, there were more than 9,000 new infections and up to 250 deaths daily. And that was just the official count, models put the figures at least three times higher. However, the real impact of the pandemic is in the country’s economic meltdown, with more than half the employed losing their jobs.The Covid-induced lockdowns have pushed millions of  Nepalis back below the poverty line, which means they are now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-epidemic-of-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unable to access food and water</a>, basic health care and education. This has completely reversed Nepal’s gains in poverty reduction in the past ten years.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b942a9c7e80680e06f1e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="225">Back in March, at the tail end of the first wave, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covids-collateral-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Himalmedia’s tv magazine Saglo Samaj interviewed</a> farmers, tourist guides, hotel operators and taxi drivers most affected by the lockdowns.This week, the team revisited each of the same people to find out what had become of them. Their stories are a microcosm of a society ravaged by the pandemic, where the poor have got poorer.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yni_6WWbmAo&amp;feature=youtu.beNepalis suffered altogether <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/economic-cost-of-5-months-of-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">five months of lockdown in 2020</a>, and another nearly two months this year. The restrictions were eased this week, even though the daily number of fatalities and active cases are higher than when the lockdown was imposed on 29 April.The pandemic and the lockdowns have disabled every sector. Some 1.1 million people in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-tourism-may-take-5-years-to-recover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hospitality industry</a> have been directly impacted by the pandemic and more than half of Nepalis lost their jobs in the past month alone.Yet, the government has no clear plans to provide alternative employment opportunities for those who lost their jobs. In fact, it has been too <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/court-debates-nepal-pm-olis-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">preoccupied with a political power struggle for most </a>of the pandemic to plan a real exit strategy. Every response to the crisis has been too little, too late.On Tuesday, even though other districts prepared to relax their lockdown just as Kathmandu did, Nepal saw 4,522 new cases and 41 fatalities. There are a total of 52,648 active infections, 762 of them in ICU and 218 in ventilator support in hospitals across the country.Public health experts are already warning of a possible third wave and urging the government to make preparations for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-covid-19-impact-worse-than-official-figures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased contact tracing</a> and hospital treatment to avoid much devastation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b942b9c7e80680e06f1e5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2552" height="1428"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>MILKED DRYBuffalo milk is the only source of income for farmers in Kamdi village of Banke district in the western Tarai. But many of the dairy farmers were unable to sell their milk during the lockdowns in 2020. Later, they didn’t get a fair price and the Dairy Development Corporation was slow to pay even what they were owed.“The market is closed, there is barely any feed for the cattle. We are working day and night, but for nothing,” says Malati Prasad Yadav, who has 150 buffalos, but little income since the pandemic.The farmers took loans to buy feed and take care of the buffalos, but the second wave has quashed the little hope they had. They were hoping the government would announce a relief package in this year’s budget. But their hopes were dashed.“We are having to pour the milk into the drains, there are no consumers for ghee or cheese. We are running at a loss and there is no telling how long it will last,” says Saroj Pandey of the SJ Dairy in Nepalganj. “The government should boost the morale of farmers and local businesses, subsidise their electricity or promote Nepali goods by stopping import from the third country.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b942e9c7e80680e06f1e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>TOURISM AND REALISMOne of the hardest-hit sectors is tourism. And while professionals of most fields have had to cope with the challenges brought on by the pandemic, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/where-have-all-the-guides-gone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tourist guides have been unemployed</a> for more than a year now.Four months ago, tourist guide Shankar Bhattarai had taken up teaching to make a living but was spending all his free time reading up about Nepal’s history and culture to better prepare himself for when the tourists would come back post lockdown. But the second wave killed what was left of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/survive-revive-thrive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s tourism</a>.He has since given up any hope of normalcy and is constantly worried about debt collectors. Hoping for an alternative for tourists guides like himself, he was further depressed with this year’s budget.“There were provisions only for the big hotels and travel agents, we didn’t find ordinary tour guides like us anywhere in the relief packages,” says Bhattarai, who had been a tourist guide since 2011. “I’ve tried my best to promote Nepal through my work but at our time of need, we have no government support. I now question myself about staying back in Nepal.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b94309c7e80680e06f1e7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2537" height="1425"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>UNSERVICEABLEBig businesses have their own woes. The three-star Airport Hotel in Kathmandu has seen only a handful of guests in more than a year. The hotel’s original staff of 100 is down to 10, and only 10 of its 62 rooms are kept serviceable.“We are doing much worse than last year, we did survive 15 months somehow, there were some domestic tourists, but then the second wave happened and it destroyed what little we had,” says owner Binayak Shah, adding that he has not been able to pay the monthly instalments on its loan for 17 months.He adds: “I have no income, so how can I pay them? This means sooner or later, the bank is going to blacklist me, and put this hotel up for auction.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b94339c7e80680e06f1e8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2544" height="1420"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>DOWN AND OUTWhile some worry about paying millions in bank loans, daily wage labourers worry about the next meal. Kancha Lama has been operating a rickshaw in Kathmandu for 38 years, but his <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pandemic-puts-brake-on-kathmandus-rickshaws/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">business is down and out</a>. He hardly gets one ride a day, and mostly depends on people distributing free food.“It’s easy for the government to tell us to stay home and eat healthy, where is the money? It doesn’t even allow me to beg on the streets. At least they should distribute rations for people like us,” says Lama. “If I get Covid, at least I will be out of this misery.”Bir Bahadur Lama is in Asan every day, and if it is his lucky day he will get a client or two to carry loads for them. Otherwise, he sits on the temple steps passing the day with other jobless porters. Before the pandemic, they used to carry loads for Asan’s many shops. Sometimes, good samaritans offer them food, but that is rare.“I just wish I did not have to sleep hungry and lockdown would end soon, that is all I wish for,” he says.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b94379c7e80680e06f1e9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2539" height="1430"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>TAKEN FOR A RIDEDuring the lockdown last year, a bank took possession of Ganesh Tamang’s taxi which he had bought with Rs500,000 out of savings from years of toil in the Gulf.With no other source of income, he is now back to his village and raises livestock. “I often feel like I was born in a wrong country, to a wrong family, and at the wrong time, it wouldn’t have come to this anywhere else,” he says.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b943a9c7e80680e06f1eajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="844"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Sagar Bohora has a sickly mother at home, and a family of young children dependent on him. But his taxi has broken down because it has not run much for the past year-and-a-half. He needs at least Rs30,000 for repairs, but he has barely enough after paying off the auto loan.“I only ask banks and financial institutions that they give us a few months until after the lockdown so that we can pay our dues, by then we will be able to get up, with or without government help,” says Bohora.<h2>Pandemic makes the poor poorer</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121148/636b943c9c7e80680e06f1ebjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2538" height="1424"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There is empirical evidence that the second pandemic wave has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-prepares-for-economic-fallout-of-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">further impoverished Nepal’s poor</a>. Even by modest estimates, some 9 million Nepalis have been pushed back below the poverty line due to Covid-19 induced lockdowns. In this week’s Saglo Samaj tv magazine, Shankar Sharma, former ambassador to the US and vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission spoke to Kanak Mani Dixit. Excerpts:Kanak Mani Dixit: We went back to people we had interviewed four months ago, and found that their situation had further declined. Do they represent the current Nepali society?Shankar Sharma: They are an accurate representation. There are three categories that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic: the first are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pandemic-offers-chance-to-revive-farming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">subsistence farmers</a> below the poverty line, this also includes disadvantaged groups. The next are people in the informal sector whose livelihood has been endangered with the extended closure of the market. Then there is the hospitality industry and unlike others, they haven’t been able to pick up after the first wave because the impact of the lockdown on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tourism-that-treads-lightly-on-the-land/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">travel industry</a> is long-term. These businesses had loans and now their debt has accumulated.These impacts are directly reflected in our macroeconomic numbers. Economic growth rate last year was 2% and this year it won’t be more than 1%. Similarly, the World Bank estimates following the pandemic there are now a total 9 million people in Nepal below the poverty line.Would you say that because it is not monetised rural subsistence living is faring better?Back during the Maoist insurgency, some development partners had conducted a study about people who had migrated to the cities due to the violence. They asked people if they would go back to the village once the peace accord was signed, 93% of the respondents said no.One of the main reasons behind this was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/back-to-the-future-of-farming/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s agriculture</a> couldn’t compete with Indian and Chinese produce. This also led to more people migrating abroad. Experts have suggested the concept of contract farming, which is also included in this year’s budget and will do well for the country.But one of our biggest problems is our <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-fake-poor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inability to identify the poor</a>. The government has developed ID cards for their identification, but 23% of the poor are not on the list but 25% are those who have listed themselves in hopes of getting some relief. As a result, the real poor have been deprived even of their social security fund.What should we do to boost their morale and of the country?The affected people are those in rural Nepal but they also have an advantage of three levels of government. But it is still the responsibility of the central government to provide relief worth at least two months at $1 per day for its people. Unfortunately, there is no mention of this in the budget this year.The Nepal government has also allocated a total of Rs50 billion for training in the last two budgets but hasn’t been able to spend that money. This fund should be used in skill development for Nepalis post lockdown, effective spending of the budget is a must. Similarly, the government should support cottage and small industries so that they don’t close down. If we lack funding, we could use loans and grants we have received from international development partners.Despite the pandemic, there is still talk about Nepal graduating from Least Developed Country (LDC) status to a middle-income country. What will happen now?Following the pandemic, the United Nations has set a new deadline for the LDCs to graduate to lower-middle-income and middle-income countries. The good news is that we have made some progress in our per capita income, and the fact that our economy is now dependent on multiple factors is a positive sign. But what is worrying is that our economic growth is still lower than the average growth of underdeveloped countries. This means we will have to work more on increasing our living standard.It is said that Nepal is not a poor country, but the government just cannot seem to spend its development budget. If they were held more to account by civil society and media during this pandemic that might help? I think that is an appropriate conclusion to make. The government will always play the lead role, but it is important to highlight the importance of civil society and journalists in creating awareness about various programs at the local level such as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/missing-the-plot-in-nepals-job-scheme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Prime Minister’s Employment Scheme</a>, which goes a long way in rejuvenating elected representatives in villages and towns.

The real cost of Nepal’s second wave

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b92f49c7e80680e06f17bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2550" height="1429"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Nepal has had one emergency heaped on top of another for more than a year now. The Covid-19 emergency, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires</a>, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">now floods</a>.Political flux in Kathmandu continues to undermine the state’s ability to respond adequately. But this is nothing new. The most glaring governance failure of Nepal’s rulers for the past decades has been their incompetence in being able to ensure nutrition for its youngest citizens.Be it during the absolute and constitutional monarchy days, the post-democracy period or now, in the new federal system, the state has failed abjectly in its primary responsibility to fulfil the most basic of all human rights – access to adequate food.Nepal did reduce childhood stunting from 57% to 36% in the two decades after 1990. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nearly-half-of-nepali-children-still-malnourished/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">But progress stalled</a> because of the conflict and political upheavals. Nearly a third of Nepali children are still stunted due to lack of adequate food, 12% are wasted, and 24% low weight.The statistics are shocking. Nepal’s hunger hotspots are Far Western Province where 41% of children are stunted, and in Province 2 where 34% of children have low height due to lack of food. A survey in May by Sharecast Initiative and UNICEF shows that one in five families across Nepal <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-eating-less-due-to-lockdown-hardships/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reduced the quantity of meals</a> their children ate during the lockdown.Children have so far been largely spared by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants, but they have become <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/children-are-collateral-damage-in-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">collateral damage in the pandemic</a>. Schools have been closed for most of the past year, and half the students had no access to distance learning. Immunisation drives against pre-existing killer diseases have been disrupted.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/half-of-nepalis-lost-jobs-in-past-month/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">More than half of Nepalis lost their jobs</a> in the past month amidst the second wave, and loss of household income has led directly to insufficient food for children.Hunger is Nepal’s real national epidemic and rampant malnutrition pre-dated the Covid-19 outbreak. The pandemic has undermined the country’s past gains in battling childhood malnutrition.To meet its UN sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets, Nepal has to reduce stunting well below 15% and wasting and low weight to less than 5% in the next nine years. At the present rate, we will not meet those goals.Horrific as the statistics are, zooming down to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-epidemic-of-hunger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ground level in Dhanusha and Mahottari districts</a> of Province 2, our Saglo Samajtv magazine report this week shows how much worse things have got during the lockdowns.Despite Nepal being declared open-defecation free amidst much fanfare, Dalit and other marginalised communities in Dhanusha and Mahottari do not have toilets. If they do have one, there is no running water or soap. They use the same village pond for both humans and cattle, for cleaning and drinking. Things are not much better in pockets in the western mountains. Gastric infections compound malnutrition.The least the government could do is equitably distribute the ‘nutrition allowance’ allocated for the Dalit families and educate the communities on the basics of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/toilet-trained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sanitation and hygiene</a>.Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres for severely malnourished children must be set up closer to the communities so that the neediest can access the service. The annual budget on nutrition should be increased so that local health posts have sufficient supplements and micronutrients for new mothers and their children.The government’s Multi-Sector Nutrition Plan has not delivered as expected, tangled up over jurisdiction under the new federal structure. But it could just as easily deploy Female Community Health Volunteers, and local representatives to discourage <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/child-marriage-in-nepal-eloped-at-13-mother-by-17/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">child marriage</a> that feeds the vicious cycle of malnutrition and high maternal and child deaths.Malnutrition is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/junk-food-is-making-nepali-children-shorter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than the availability of food</a> and access to clean water, it is also confronting patriarchy, casteism and gender discrimination. It is a result of poor governance, lack of accountability and corruption.But nothing is stopping newly-empowered local governments with technical and financial backing from the centre to now achieve results that Kathmandu’s past centralised governments could not. Training of farmers on climate-smart agriculture, and leasing land to the landless is a good place to start.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-face-of-hunger-debt-malnutrition,3604" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Children are hungry</a> because of poverty. Their families are poor because of state neglect. We must draw that causal link between lack of food and failure to deliver it by elected representatives. That is the real scandal the evening news bulletins should be highlighting.

Hunger for governance

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121140/636b927e9c7e80680e06f150jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2552" height="1422"/><figcaption>Photos: SAGLO SAMAJ/HIMALMEDIA</figcaption></figure>There are 34 households in Mohattarai’s Anaita neighbourhood, most of them have at least four children each. In the last three years, three children in the community have died due to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nearly-half-of-nepali-children-still-malnourished/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">complications from the lack of food</a>.Raju Devi Sada first lost her three-year-old daughter, already weakened by malnutrition, who died a week after she caught pneumonia and diarrhoea.“We spent quite a bit of money for her treatment in hospital, but we couldn’t save her,” says Raju Devi, wiping a tear with the hem of her sari. A year later, she gave birth to another daughter. But she died soon after being born.“I don’t even know why she died,” says Raju Devi, who is now raising her third daughter.The little girl is underweight and local health workers have recommended nutritious food. But Raju Devi cannot afford the vegetables, eggs, milk and meat, and what she earns as a daily wage labourer is barely enough to feed the rest of the family.“What we make is not sufficient to pay for food, let alone medicines,” adds Raju Devi, looking at her youngest girl, who reminds her so much of the other two daughters who did not make it. “A mother never forgets her children, even if they are dead.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d73CU1U8wIUHunger has always stalked the land here in the backwaters of the eastern plains of Nepal. State neglect, inequality and injustice have unleashed a vicious cycle where <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/food-for-thought-for-nepals-nutrition-planners/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">families are too poor to eat enough</a>, which makes them sick, and having to spend on medical treatment drives them deeper into poverty and that means they can afford less food.The first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic arrived in these districts bordering India before it spread across Nepal. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-leaves-millions-of-south-asian-children-hungry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Four months of lockdown in 2020</a>, and two months so far this year have meant that subsistence farmers like Raju Devi’s family have lost what little they could earn to buy extra food for the children.At the nearby Manorasisuwa neighbourhood, Sagar Devi Sada spends her day caring for her grandchildren, both of them visibly malnourished. Her eldest grandson is four-and-half years old and is so weak he cannot even stand on his feet. He has poor eyesight and is mute, but the family can afford neither more food nor treatment.A few weeks ago, a community health worker gave Sagar Devi some packets of the supplementary food, Balvita, but she has run out of those by now.“We built this house, but we haven’t paid our loans, we don’t have money for anything else, it’s up to the gods now,” says Sagar Devi in a resigned voice. “Their father makes some money but doesn’t provide for them, and their mother abandoned them. If not for me, these boys would be dead.”In Manorasisuwa alone, 17 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/children-are-collateral-damage-in-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">children</a> have so far been diagnosed with severe malnutrition. And this is just one neighbourhood of one village in Nepal -- a microcosm of what is happening across the country during this pandemic.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b92819c7e80680e06f151jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2529" height="1427"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Even before this crisis, the lack of food was already the biggest cause of childhood illness and death, and parts of Nepal have rates of malnutrition that are highest in the world. Complications due to malnutrition cause more than half the childhood deaths in the country, according to a UNICEF report.In addition to the risk of losing their lives, children with malnutrition have stunted physical and mental growth, are severely underweight, and their immune system is compromised.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/1-in-5-nepal-families-lack-food/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s hunger</a> hotspots are these districts in Province 2, and Sudur Paschim Province in Nepal’s far-western mountains. The 2019 Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster survey found that 41% of children in Sudur Paschim Province are short for their age, and 34% of children in Province 2 are similarly stunted. The survey showed that a third of Nepali children show signs of stunting due to lack of food, and 12% are wasted, and 24% low weight.“We have found that up to 70% of children who die every year in Province 2 do so due to malnutrition, and the main reason for that is extreme poverty,” says Kedar Parajuli at Nepal’s Family Welfare Division. “Without alleviating poverty, we can’t solve malnutrition. And to do that these families need more land to farm, or a means of livelihood.”But <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=570#.XcJAUtIza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">malnutrition</a> is not just about food availability. Many children even from better off families suffer from poor nutrition because of chronic diarrhoea caused by contaminated water, poor sanitation and hygiene.In October 2019, amidst much fanfare, Nepal was officially declared the first <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/toilet-trained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">open defecation-free</a> country in South Asia. But here in Ramdaiya village of Dhanusha district that is noticeably not true.There are 150 households from the Musahar community in the village, and half of them malnourished children. None of them have a proper latrine, with villagers using nearby fields. The village pond is used for drinking, washing, bathing and cleaning utensils, as well as a buffalo wallow.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b92859c7e80680e06f152jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2550" height="1426"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>But Ramdaiya was declared open defecation-free two years ago after distributing toilet sets to all the wards. No latrines were built.Sri Narayan Sada is daily wage labour, and has a family of seven but no land. His two-year-old son is scrawny, and has all the symptoms of severe malnutrition: frequent diarrhoea, swollen stomach and skeletal limbs. “I don’t know what’s wrong with my son, only the gods know,” he says.Assistant health worker Aruna Yadav says the child is underweight and is mentally retarded. She says the father earns Rs500 a day but spends half of it on alcohol, the rest goes to buy food, but it is not enough for the whole family.Poverty, hunger, patriarchy, caste and gender discrimination make a dangerous concoction in these villages. As a result, most girls are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-child-marriages-spike-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">married before pubescence</a>. By the time the severely undernourished girls are in their mid-teens, they have already given birth to their first child – making it risky for both mother and baby.The young mothers have never been taught about taking care of their health, or that of their children. Most do not know the kind of diet and supplements that pregnant and lactating mothers need, and even if they did, cannot afford them.The Nepal government is supposed to provide Rs400 per Dalit family as a ‘nutrition allowance’. But the families in Ramdaiya in Dhanusa and Monorasisuwa in Mahottari interviewed for this report had not got even that paltry amount for the past two years because they did not know how to work the system.The government also implemented a Multi-sector Nutrition Plan to revive a successful program that saw dramatic strides in the last 20 years in raising family food intake the first two decades before the progress stalled. But the plan has got tangled up over jurisdiction under Nepal’s new federal structure.If things were not serious enough, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-lost-covid-generation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Covid-19 pandemic has set back</a> even the few inroads Nepal had made in tackling malnutrition. According to the Nepal Planning Commission, last year’s pandemic-induced lockdowns pushed 4% of Nepalis back below the poverty line.A recent John Hopkins School of Public Health study concluded that severe malnutrition among children under five during the pandemic could kill up to 4,000 children a year in Nepal due to insufficient food caused by lost family income.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121144/636b92889c7e80680e06f153jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2550" height="1429"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This is already visible at the community level. Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres across Nepal is seeing an alarming rise in severely malnourished cases, much higher than the yearly average.“We recently admitted five cases of underweight children with very severe malnutrition, we rarely used to see such children,” says Karuna Yadav at a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre in Janakpur. “And these are just cases that come to us, we have not even conducted camps or gone house-to-house yet.”There are 21 centres like this one in Janakpur that treat severe malnutrition across Nepal, but they are not easily accessible to poorer families who usually live out of the way.The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require Nepal to reduce wasting to less than 5% by 2030. Stunting needs to be well below 15% in 10 years to meet the global target. Even the little progress Nepal has made in this regard is now jeopardised by the pandemic.Says Kedarraj Parajuli of the Family Welfare Division. “Given inter-generational nature of malnutrition, we are focusing on what we call the 1,000 golden days after birth by promoting supplementary food and creating awareness.”But it is easy to see that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-to-reverse-child-survival-gains/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">malnutrition is a structural problem</a> that has deep political and socio-economic factors that are rooted in poor governance, corruption and ingrained cultural inequities. A piecemeal approach that just addresses nutrition, sanitation, environment and development must be replaced with more accountable national, provincial and local government. But given the chronic political instability and lack of political will, that is a tall order.Says nutrition policy expert Atmaram Pandey: “Nepal doesn’t lack resources, but they are taken up by a faulty development model that wastes it all on viewtowers and unnecessary roads. Nepal’s chronic malnutrition can only be reduced with a more responsive state that generates jobs so the poorest have more money to buy food for their children.”

Nepal’s epidemic of hunger

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111011114/636cccdf9c7e80680e08bc46jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: WFP NEPAL</figcaption></figure>The Government of Japan is to provide assistance worth $3.47 million to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">United Nations World Food Programme</a> (WFP) Nepal, to support families worst-hit by the loss of income because of the Covid pandemic. The Mother and Child Health and Nutrition Programme will fund projects in five districts of Provinces 1 and 2.
The support is in the long line of the Japanese government’s continued assistance to Nepal to improve the health and nutrition of young mothers and children. Outgoing Japanese Ambassador to Nepal Saigo Masamichi and WFP Nepal Country Representative Susan Jane Pearce signed the grant agreement. 
“This partnership between the Japanese Government, the Government of Nepal, and WFP has the potential to improve the health and nutrition of 19,000 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-lost-covid-generation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">children</a> aged 6 to 23 months and 49,700 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers through specialised nutritious food. Community Food Banks equipped with food storage facilities will be set up targeting 25,000 households,” said Masamichi during the signing event.
Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Saptari and Siraha districts, prone to annual flash floods and landslides made worse by the climate crisis, are the core project areas. The assistance will also help populations whose livelihood was disrupted by the Covid-19 lockdowns and the economic collapse, mainly in rural locations where agriculture is the primary source of income for families.
A series of surveys by UNICEF Nepal and Sharecast Initiative last year concluded that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/pandemic-of-poverty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">42% of households in Nepal have no income</a> as an impact of the pandemic. The study also showed that another 19% families have a monthly income of less than NRs10,000.
A separate study by the Ministry of Agriculture showed that nearly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-eating-less-due-to-lockdown-hardships/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a quarter of families in Nepal are eating less</a>, and 6% had run out of food following the coronavirus crisis. Province 2 is among the most vulnerable of the districts suffering the impact.
The grant will further boost the ability of 2,500 government officials and health specialists to support health and nutrition services during pregnancy and childbirth, monitor child growth, and provide nutrition counselling at 100 municipal health facilities.
Says Susan Jane Pearce of WFP Nepal: “Covid-19 has had severe impacts. By supporting the production and consumption of locally available and traditionally consumed nutritious food and through shock-responsive community food banks, we hope that this project will increase dietary diversity among the poor and food insecure households and build community resilience to climatic shocks.”

Japan to assist Nepali mothers and children

<figure><img width="1500" height="814" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101156/636ccad79c7e80680e08bb8ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Dogs huddle for warmth at a fireplace in Janakpur.</figcaption></figure>Just as it has every winter, the cold wave in Nepal’s Tarai has had a devastating impact on the livelihood of its people, but local governments have provided little to no support to the neediest. As a result, even in this day and age, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/is-the-nepal-tarai-prepared-for-winter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepalis still die from the cold</a>.There are indications that the ground fog that covers the Indo-Gengetic plains that includes the Tarai is getting thicker and lasts longer because of a combination of moisture in the air due to the spread of irrigation and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/breathing-is-hazardous-to-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pollution</a>. Water droplets stick to soot particles, and even the sun cannot burn the smog off during the day. “Only those who can afford it wear warm clothes here. Our children run around in hand me downs, and sometimes without one, even in winter,” says Lalmati Devi of Birganj. “We have had no income because of the lockdown, so we couldn’t buy warm clothes.” <img width="1500" height="843" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101156/636ccad99c7e80680e08bb8fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figure><img width="1500" height="812" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101156/636ccadc9c7e80680e08bb90jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Fog-bound Birganj, where the sun did not shine for days during the cold wave this month.</figcaption></figure>In Nepalganj 500km away to the west, passengers at the airport wait for days on end for flights, which are cancelled or delayed due to poor visibility. It is the same story in Dhangadi, Simra, Biratnagar and Bhadrapur.“We have visibility of only 10-20 metres right now, it is too low to operate flights. This has been the case here for the past few days,” says Prem Nath Thakur, head of the Nepalganj Airport.  Even a decade ago, the winter fog used to clear by afternoon. But in recent years it stays for days on end, sometimes for a week or more. People are trying to cope, but cannot seem to stay warm.“When humidity is over 95% and visibility is below 1km, water droplets are suspended in the atmosphere or near the earth’s surface, like a thick cloud that touches the ground,” explains Archana Shrestha of the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. “It is only at ground level, but it is persistent and doesn’t allow the sun to warm the ground, leading to a cold wave.” <figure><img width="1500" height="776" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101156/636ccadf9c7e80680e08bb91jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Planes grounded at Nepalganj airport due to poor visibility this week.</figcaption></figure>The cold kills people. Either because of hypothermia, or indirectly through smoke inhalation inside the home as people try to keep warm. The problem lies in the lack of awareness about indoor air pollution, ventilation, insulation and as well as inappropriate architecture. Winter fog is getting thicker and lasts longer every passing year because of open agricultural burning, industrial emissions, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/how-transboundary-haze-affects-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">transboundary pollution</a>, wildfires and smog.The cold wave on 21 January reduced the maximum temperature in Nepalganj to 14°C whereas it was 19.3°C in Jumla, which is at an altitude of 2,500m in the mountains.The first recorded cold wave in the Tarai occurred in 1998. At that time, the difference between the minimum and maximum temperature was a mere 1.3°C, meaning the temperature was constant throughout the day. The longest cold wave recorded was in 2002/03 when it continued from 26 December to 27 January without any sunshine. Prior to this, a cold wave in the plains lasted from 15 December 1997 to 15 January 1998.This year, the cold wave has hit the Tarai in short spells but they were no less menacing, particularly in central Nepal where they were longer and denser. In Mahottari, the fog was so thick people could hardly see a metre away. Families huddle inside their homes, and do not venture out unless there is an emergency. But like all other disasters, the poor are disproportionately affected by the cold wave. <img width="1500" height="983" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110101156/636ccae29c7e80680e08bb92jpeg.jpg" alt="">"People with means have homes, warm clothes and heaters, they can even employ others if they are unable to work because of the cold," says Tula Narayan Shah (pictured right) of Nepal Madhes Foundation. "But even among the poor, women and Dalit in the Tarai are hit the hardest." The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/unsung-heroes-of-nepals-tiger-recovery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Musahar community</a> in this Province 2 district have homes built with public housing programs but with no roofs. Families do not have warm clothing or electricity. “It has been two years since we paid for the roof but we are still waiting, government does not listen to us,” says a local resident, Biraj Majhi.Oftentimes, people burn straw in order to warm themselves from the cold. There are fatalities every year from fires. Nine people have died in house fires this winter alone. But these aren’t listed as deaths caused by the cold wave. Open burning to keep warm also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandu-air-pollution-hits-record-high/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">degrades air quality</a> further.Bheri hospital in Nepalganj is often crowded with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/diabetes-in-south-asia,3018" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hypertension patients</a> and those having difficulty breathing in the winter season.“Generally, blood pressure increases during winter, even of those who have it under control, other chronic illnesses are also more pronounced and people need a higher doses of their medications,” explains cardiologist Krishna Prasad Adhikari. “There is also an increased risk of heart attacks as morning chill leads to spasms and narrowing of blood vessels. Covid has added to the risk.”The cold wave also affects agriculture. Crops wilt without the sun, and insects infest the vegetable patches. Moreover, due to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/crushing-tale-of-Chure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased deforestation in the Chure</a>, wild animals have moved down the plains, destroying crops as they search for food. But farmers are unable to stand guard during a cold wave and are forced to send their produce to the market before they have fully ripened.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4CUcKlj3XU&amp;feature=youtu.beEven by moderate estimates, cold spells affect at least 125,000 households in the Tarai every year and these numbers are increasing. The Cold Wave Contingency Action Plan has estimated that 50,000 people from 5,000 households in Saptari (where 19 people died of cold three years ago) would be affected this year. Another 30,000 and 6,500 households in Dang and Bardia.Cold waves are listed as a disaster in Nepal now, and the District Disaster Management Committee has a plan to reduce its impact. Says Krishna Bahadur Katuwal, former Chief District Officer of Mahottarai: “No citizen should suffer from the cold wave or die from it. We are ready to respond and we have made arrangements through municipalities to distribute warm clothes, blankets and bedding.”But in most places, such support is yet to reach the neediest of the bunch. “The CDO came for inspection a month ago, the help hasn’t reached us yet,” says Ramprit Sada of Kaira in Mahottari.Adds Lalmati Devi of Birganj: “We haven’t received anything from the municipality, this is a Dalit neighbourhood. Our children just burn the cow dung to keep warm.”Based on Episode 7 of Saglo Samaj, a tv magazine program produced by Himalmedia which is broadcast every Monday, at 8:30 pm on Dish Home Channel 130.

Nepalis still dying of cold

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9dd9c7e80680e0878e4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1130" height="899"/><figcaption>Photo: UNICEF NEPAL</figcaption></figure>Results from a recent nationwide survey show that more than half of Nepali households are at risk of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rise-in-poverty-due-to-covid-19-to-affect-children/">falling back into poverty</a> because of loss of jobs and income during 2020 due to the pandemic. And it is the children who are affected the most.This newspaper has been tracking the outcomes of these surveys that were conducted in May, July, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-impact-on-food-and-school-in-nepali-children/">August</a> and October. It is a sobering reminder that while the national leadership is engrossed in a fight to the finish in Kathmandu, the state has left Nepalis (especially the most vulnerable) to fend for themselves in dealing with the health and economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis.The surveys were conducted by <a href="https://www.sharecast.org.np/">Sharecast Initiative</a> for <a href="https://www.unicef.org/nepal/sites/unicef.org.nepal/files/2020-08/UNICEF%20Child%20and%20Family%20Tracker%20Survey.pdf">Unicef</a> and the last one in October involved a representative sample of 6,558 households with children all over the country.The most striking finding was that 42% of households in Nepal have no earnings at all, and a further 19% have a combined monthly family income of less than Rs10,000. This means the official figure for Nepal’s population living below the poverty line will need to be drastically revised.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9df9c7e80680e0878e5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="763" height="491">The National Planning Commission’s 2014 survey of the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Nepal-%20Multidimensional-Poverty-Index,4115">Multidimensional Poverty Index</a> showed that the incidence of poverty had fallen from nearly <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/schooling-and-nutrition-poverty-in-nepal,1098">60% in 2006 to 28.6% in 2014</a> – largely because household incomes rose due to remittances. With the Covid crisis, Nepal’s poverty rate may have climbed back to the level 15 years ago at the end of the conflict.The Unicef survey shows that the incidence of household poverty during the Covid-19 crisis is spread unevenly through Nepal. For instance, the majority of those who remain in the ‘no earning’ category this year are from rural parts of Sudurpaschim and Lumbini Provinces. A quarter of them tend to be female-led households and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-face-of-hunger-debt-malnutrition,3604">10% were Dalit families.  </a>The survey shows a clear correlation between the pandemic-induced loss of income across Nepal. For example, the survey in May had shown that there were zero households with no earnings, or those making less than Rs10,000 a month. Strikingly, this figure went up to 49% in July, and even climbed to a high of 64% in August (See graphs).By October it had fallen to 42%+19% with income below Rs10,000 a month, and it is likely even lower for December. However, 45% of households were still reporting loss of income, and even those with jobs were earning less.The data shows that except for Karnali, all six other provinces reported a decrease in job loss from May to October, 2020. Province 2 showed a consistently high level of those who had lost livelihoods, and there was little improvement from August to October.  Bagmati and Lumbini Provinces had the lowest percentage of respondents reporting job losses since August.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9e19c7e80680e0878e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="772" height="530"><figcaption>Loss of jobs in May, July, August and October.</figcaption></figure>The coping mechanism for most of those slipping into poverty was to borrow, dig into savings, cut household expenditure, migrate, or rely on remittances. Disaggregated data showed that 61% of Dalit families were forced to borrow to survive, while only 48% of non-Dalit families had to borrow money to run the household, revealing that caste differences can also mean a class gap.Increased indebtedness will lead many households to fall deeper into poverty. Female-led households tend to borrow less, depend more on savings and remittances, the findings show.Nepal’s children bore the brunt of falling household incomes by being deprived of adequate food, health care and education. In August, 34% of parents cited ‘food’ among the top three needs of their children, and by October this had dropped to 30%, while children’s education rose from 35% to 45%.One in five families still say they have to struggle to feed their children. This proportion has remained the same since August, and hunger was more prevalent in Provinces 1, 2 and Lumbini. Inflation, and loss of income were cited as causes.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9e49c7e80680e0878e7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="911" height="606">To a certain extent, educational needs of children appeared to be met in October with 81% of households saying that their children were involved in some form of studying – most of them at home. Less than 15% were attending physical classes, 22% were online. However, in Sudurpaschim and Province 2, a quarter of families said their children were not attending school at all.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636be9e69c7e80680e0878e8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="504">Survey results tend to be dry and impersonal. But behind each of these numbing numbers are untold stories of families and children abandoned by an uncaring state. Is it too much to hope that in 2021, Nepal’s rulers will take steps to reverse this neglect?

Pandemic of poverty

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0c24b0ad905ca02f02djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1130" height="899"/><figcaption>Photo: UNICEF NEPAL</figcaption></figure>Results from a recent nationwide survey show that more than half of Nepali households are at risk of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rise-in-poverty-due-to-covid-19-to-affect-children/">falling back into poverty</a> because of loss of jobs and income during 2020 due to the pandemic. And it is the children who are affected the most.This newspaper has been tracking the outcomes of these surveys that were conducted in May, July, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-impact-on-food-and-school-in-nepali-children/">August</a> and October. It is a sobering reminder that while the national leadership is engrossed in a fight to the finish in Kathmandu, the state has left Nepalis (especially the most vulnerable) to fend for themselves in dealing with the health and economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis.The surveys were conducted by <a href="https://www.sharecast.org.np/">Sharecast Initiative</a> for <a href="https://www.unicef.org/nepal/sites/unicef.org.nepal/files/2020-08/UNICEF%20Child%20and%20Family%20Tracker%20Survey.pdf">Unicef</a> and the last one in October involved a representative sample of 6,558 households with children all over the country.The most striking finding was that 42% of households in Nepal have no earnings at all, and a further 19% have a combined monthly family income of less than Rs10,000. This means the official figure for Nepal’s population living below the poverty line will need to be drastically revised.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0c54b0ad905ca02f02ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="763" height="491">The National Planning Commission’s 2014 survey of the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Nepal-%20Multidimensional-Poverty-Index,4115">Multidimensional Poverty Index</a> showed that the incidence of poverty had fallen from nearly <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/schooling-and-nutrition-poverty-in-nepal,1098">60% in 2006 to 28.6% in 2014</a> – largely because household incomes rose due to remittances. With the Covid crisis, Nepal’s poverty rate may have climbed back to the level 15 years ago at the end of the conflict.The Unicef survey shows that the incidence of household poverty during the Covid-19 crisis is spread unevenly through Nepal. For instance, the majority of those who remain in the ‘no earning’ category this year are from rural parts of Sudurpaschim and Lumbini Provinces. A quarter of them tend to be female-led households and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-face-of-hunger-debt-malnutrition,3604">10% were Dalit families.  </a>The survey shows a clear correlation between the pandemic-induced loss of income across Nepal. For example, the survey in May had shown that there were zero households with no earnings, or those making less than Rs10,000 a month. Strikingly, this figure went up to 49% in July, and even climbed to a high of 64% in August (See graphs).By October it had fallen to 42%+19% with income below Rs10,000 a month, and it is likely even lower for December. However, 45% of households were still reporting loss of income, and even those with jobs were earning less.The data shows that except for Karnali, all six other provinces reported a decrease in job loss from May to October, 2020. Province 2 showed a consistently high level of those who had lost livelihoods, and there was little improvement from August to October.  Bagmati and Lumbini Provinces had the lowest percentage of respondents reporting job losses since August.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0c74b0ad905ca02f02fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="772" height="530"><figcaption>Loss of jobs in May, July, August and October.</figcaption></figure>The coping mechanism for most of those slipping into poverty was to borrow, dig into savings, cut household expenditure, migrate, or rely on remittances. Disaggregated data showed that 61% of Dalit families were forced to borrow to survive, while only 48% of non-Dalit families had to borrow money to run the household, revealing that caste differences can also mean a class gap.Increased indebtedness will lead many households to fall deeper into poverty. Female-led households tend to borrow less, depend more on savings and remittances, the findings show.Nepal’s children bore the brunt of falling household incomes by being deprived of adequate food, health care and education. In August, 34% of parents cited ‘food’ among the top three needs of their children, and by October this had dropped to 30%, while children’s education rose from 35% to 45%.One in five families still say they have to struggle to feed their children. This proportion has remained the same since August, and hunger was more prevalent in Provinces 1, 2 and Lumbini. Inflation, and loss of income were cited as causes.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0c94b0ad905ca02f030jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="911" height="606">To a certain extent, educational needs of children appeared to be met in October with 81% of households saying that their children were involved in some form of studying – most of them at home. Less than 15% were attending physical classes, 22% were online. However, in Sudurpaschim and Province 2, a quarter of families said their children were not attending school at all.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0cc4b0ad905ca02f031jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="504">Survey results tend to be dry and impersonal. But behind each of these numbing numbers are untold stories of families and children abandoned by an uncaring state. Is it too much to hope that in 2021, Nepal’s rulers will take steps to reverse this neglect?