Where is Nepal in the Food System Transition?

Abstract

In Nepal, 27% of GDP is contributed by the agriculture sector with 65.56% of households depending upon agriculture for employment. However, 51.8% of households are still food insecure and 25.2% are under the poverty line. Given these facts, it is interesting to watch how the economic growth and food system will go forward, despite the paradoxical history of development-modest growth but brisk poverty reduction has already been experienced. While literature noted that the transition to a food system is rapid for developing countries, very limited analysis linking the food system to its drivers and its consequences exists in the context of Nepal. The study examined food system transition using the secondary data from different sources and analyzing it through a conceptual framework of the food system. The study showed the contemporary food security issue is disparity in food access among the peoples driven by the poverty gap. The trends and scenarios shown in results revealed that the tendencies of food system drivers are on positive sides, but the structural foundation of agriculture (land issues, labor migration, mechanization, adaptations, etc.) is not so strong. This situation has created a serious question on the transition of the food system in Nepal. For this, the policy priorities are imperative to be institutionalized at all three levels of government-federal, state and local, and need to be concerted to transform the food system.