Rice Crisis in Nepal (Focusing on Degrading Nature) Research Paper

Rice Crisis in Nepal (Focusing on Degrading Nature) - Research Paper Example Historical and modern information relating to people’s living standards, food production as well as nutritional status clearly implies that the rice crisis in Nepal is increasing in effect in Karnali (Latham, 1998). For instance Karnali, where rice grows, has been experiencing underdevelopment hence the beginning of the rice crisis. The rice crisis in Karnali is associated with the hegemonic and imbalanced relationship between Kathmandu, the power center, over Karnali which is a minor region treated as a colony of Nepal. This has led to the feeling among the Karnali people that they are living under unfavorable conditions where rice is the best food. The reliance on bureaucracy in the development of the region as imposed by the ruling class is meant to favor their economic and political interest. However the ruling class share similar social group with the most Karnali people in as far as caste and ethnicity are concerned. Therefore class relations are deemed important in unde rstanding the rice crisis and generally the food crisis within the Nepal. The increased dependency on rice among the people living in the western impoverished part of Nepal has been due to the increased food scarcity as suggested by Blaikie and Brookfield (1987). Historically people in this area used to grow a range of grains. However, the situation changed due to declining land productivity, lack of improved farming skills as well as knowledge and varying dietary habits. The low productivity of these grains such as millet, barley, rice and buckwheat has led o people depending totally on the Nepal Food Corporation which is run by the state. However, this comes at a price that the local people are unable to afford. For instance exporting a quintal of rice to Humla might cost around 160 US dollars and it usually takes almost a year to transport about three hundred quintals to Humla according to Kshetry (n.d). The rice crisis has developed due to increasing cases of workers’ strikes and the degradation of nature as evident in the bad weather. However the situation is probably bound to worsen as the government lacks a plan and initiative to handle the rice crisis in remote areas which depends on the conditions of the roads since air supply is too expensive. Similarly even with enough supply of rice and other grains in those remote areas, the people would lack the money to purchase the grains. For instance the press has released reports of people in local areas selling their utensils to purchase rice from the Nepal Food Corporation depots. The Nepal government has generally been facing a food crisis every year between June and September, with people in the rural areas having poor or no access to rice ad other grains. The hasty depletion of forest resources because of unique population growth has led to a grave environmental degradation. Population growth has led to increasing demands for pastures and forestry hence degradation of natural land according to Uprety (n.d). In Nepal there appears to exist an association between forest clearing and the population growth. This is because people need land for cultivation, timber for house building, firewood and fodder. The increased demand of these forest resources have led d egrading nature which in return has led to poor land productivity hence food crisis. Nepal has been the only country with deteriorating environment in the mountains hence leading to soil