Contents of this Issue

• Growing Food Insecurity in Kathmandu Valley (Jagannath Adhikari)

Reviews

• World Hunger: Twelve Myths (Frances Moore Lappe, Joseph Collins, Peter Rosset)
• Managing Solid Waste in Metro Kathamndu (Gopal B. Thapa and Surendra R. Devkota)
• The World of Muslim Women in Colonial Bengal, 1876-1939 (Sonia Nishat Amin)

Jagannath Adhikari

Recent demographic projections indicate that one third of Asia's, two-thirds of Latin America's and one half of Africa's population will live in cities by the turn of the century. n Nepal also, the growth rate of urban population has been very rapid. Urban areas now contain 12 % of the population, which grew by 3.4 % per year in the 1980s. In the Kathmandu Metropolis, the population growth rate was 6 % per year from 1981 to 1991. The main reason for the increase in urban population is the rural-urban migration for employment opportunities. Accordingly, the fundamental problems of rural areas like malnutrition and hunger have also shifted to urban areas.

Increase in population in cities alone is not the cause of food insecurity and urban hunger. They are the expressions of underlying economic, political and cultural structures and processes with historical roots. World economic forces of globalization in trade and the institution of free market have shaped urban processes in recent times. Governments in countries like Nepal have been responding to these forces by withdrawing support for public welfare and by enhancing the role of private sector. The bilateral and multilateral donor agencies like IMF and World Bank are pushing the developing countries like Nepal toward that direction. This was the main aim of the 'structural adjustment program', which has been pursued in Nepal in a big way since the reinstatement of democracy in 1990. As a result, the price of basic food items and utilities has been rising rapidly, further accentuating the livelihood problems of people living on the margin.

A.K. Sen in his Poverty and Famines (1981), has demonstrated that even when food is locally available, as is usually the case in urban areas, people can be exposed to hunger and starvation since low purchasing power and limited resources for the poor are constraining their access (entitlements) to food. This approach expands the conceptual understanding concerning the scope of food systems by integrating the spheres of food production, food exchanges, and food consumption.

Kathmandu valley now heavily depends on India for the supply of food items: cereals, vegetables and fruits. This dependency has been rapidly growing since the 1970s. Until the early 1950s, Kathmandu valley was largely self-sufficient in food grains even though instances of food imports from Tarai and other parts of Nepal, particularly central Nepal, for feeding the military or to meet the demand for luxury food by the elite were also recorded. In the period from the 1950s to the 1970s, Kathmandu depended mainly on Tarai for food supply, mainly of rice. Food trade (i.e., imports and distribution) is controlled by relatively a few businessmen. The supply of food grains through government channels like Nepal Food Corporation constitutes only about 5 % of the total food supplied. The danger of this situation is that the imperfect market institutions that prevail in Nepal (and in India on which Nepal's dependency has been growing) can cause food shortages or price increase making the poor city-dwellers vulnerable to hunger or malnutrition. This possibility is clearly illustrated from occasional artificial food shortages, fluctuations in prices and deterioration in food quality witnessed by Kathmanduities.

As the food security implies sufficient food for all and at all times, the study on this aspect should be extended down to the household level and, if possible, to the individual level. The need for the latter arises because of the intra-household differences in the distribution of food and resources. Moreover, food security studies should mostly concentrate on the poorer or weaker sections of the society (remote region, urban poor, low caste, women, low income group, old persons and children) as these are the groups likely to be affected most by food insecurity. Once their food requirements have been fulfilled, it can reasonably be said that food security has been fulfilled.

This author has conducted a study on the food-security situations in urban areas in Kathmandu vally. The study was focused on the analysis of food supply and consumption patterns at the household level in different settlements. For the intra-household allocation of food and resources, the study was based on observation and informal discussion as it was found difficult to get information on an individual basis. As households are those of city-dwellers with no, or less, farming opportunities, it was necessary to examine the income pattern, expenses on food items, and consumption pattern. The study revealed that households in poorer neighborhoods spend, on average, 77 % of their income on food. The same figure in some middle-class neighborhoods was estimated as 46 %. The main determinants of success or failure of households in food-security are found to be the family structure (size and chronic sickness) and education. Families that are smaller tend to be relatively better off in terms of food consumption. Similarly, families having chronically ill member(s) are found to face problems in meeting food requirements. Families with higher level of education are also found to have more income, small family size and to be relatively free from effects of chronic disease among the young members.

Another aspect of urbanization affecting the food security was the pollution. The general environmental problems in Kathmandu have severe consequences for food security. The pollution adversely affects the health of people, especially those involved in informal sector. Due to growing expenses for medicine, income to buy food has been reduced among the poorer families. Moreover, families in poorer communities with chronically sick members had lower income.

Pollution also affects the food security by reducing the quality of food. Pollutants in air, water and soil enter the food chain, and then ultimately reach the human body. Food and water in Kathmandu are found to contain various poisonous chemicals like DDT, BHC, Nitrates, Parathion and Fenitrothin, and heavy metals like lead and chromium, at a proportion higher than the acceptable level. It may be due to the compound effects of less food and exposure to pollution (because of involvement in informal sector like street vending, rickshaw and Thela pushing, factory work, driving and the like) that the families in poorer communities suffer from higher incidence of diseases. In two of the squatter settlements studied, 45 % of the families had chronically sick members and they were suffering from diseases like tuberculosis, respiratory diseases, paralysis, birth defects and stunted growth. The nature of diseases clearly points to the fact that exposure to pollution and low nutritional intake, are the major causes of the diseases.

This clearly points to the urgency in providing welfare supports to poorer sections, and in redesigning the development strategies to reduce burdens on low-income families. Total reliance on market forces has adversely affected the poorer section of the society by way of increase in prices of basic commodities, deterioration in the quality of food items, decline in wages, and pollution. Globalization of the economy is also one of the causes of increase in prices of basic commodities, which has direct bearing on food security. Even though people in the government (who were once staunch supporter of globalization of the economy) have publicly voiced concerns about the adverse impact of this process, nothing has been done yet to relieve the burden on weaker sections of society. This might require, as A.K. Sen argues, public action from the concerned groups.

(J. Adhikari is currently writing a book on metropolitan food security in Kathmandu Valley)