By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, Oct. 12: The Alliance of Agriculture for Food has called for using this year’s World Food Day to strengthen the voices for food sovereignty and climate justice rather than celebrate, in view of the devastating floods that have recently hit the country.
Issuing an appeal ahead of the 46th World Food Day, the alliance highlighted the need to address the impacts of climate-induced disasters on agriculture, food systems, livelihoods and local communities.
The glacial avalanche in the Bhotekoshi River on August 26 and heavy rainfall from September 24 to 27 triggered devastating floods, destroying homes, markets, roads and other infrastructure. Large areas of farmland have been buried under sand, rocks and debris, leaving many farmers without cultivable land or sources of income.
Speaking at a press conference, Uddhav Adhikari, coordinator of the alliance, said the sustainable rehabilitation of affected communities, restoration of agricultural production and reduction of future disaster risks were essential to safeguarding food security and livelihoods. He urged the government, local authorities, civil society and the international community to ensure a just and sustainable recovery for disaster-hit communities.
Adhikari said the devastation along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers highlighted the growing risks posed by climate change in Nepal’s mountainous terrain. He also called on countries responsible for excessive fossil fuel consumption and natural resource exploitation to take responsibility for climate-related losses and provide compensation to affected communities.
The alliance demanded safe housing, psychosocial counselling, mental health services and continued education for children from affected families. It also called for technical assessments of damaged farmland, restoration of soil quality and identification of alternative cultivable land where rehabilitation was not feasible.
The timely provision of local seeds, agricultural tools, fertilisers and other livelihood support was necessary to help farmers resume cultivation, Adhikari said.
Restoring local food supply chains and markets is equally important to ensure access to food in affected communities. Agricultural activist Krishna Prasad Paudel said climate change and declining public engagement in agriculture had created serious challenges for food security. He stressed the need to encourage farming and reduce dependence on imported food. Nepal’s rising food import expenditure and the expansion of barren land underscored the need to protect agricultural land and promote natural farming, he said.
Paudel also called for stronger climate diplomacy to secure international compensation for climate-related loss and damage.
Dipesh Nepal, a young farmer engaged in agroecological farming, said that the increasing use of concrete structures for housing and hydropower projects along river basins had made it more difficult to restore farmland after floods. “In the past, farmland could often be used again even after floods because riverbanks were not covered with concrete structures, allowing fertile soil to remain,” he said.
However, the use of cement and iron structures has made it more difficult to restore flood-damaged land for farming, he added. The alliance is organising various programmes for World Food Day, observed on October 16, focusing on the impacts of climate-induced disasters on agriculture, food systems, livelihoods and communities.
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