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Farmers are among those most affected by earthquakes. Their livelihood has been shattered in many cases. Landslides triggered by the earthquakes damaged their homes and buried the farming fields, besides killing their cattle and livestock. The temblor forced many farmers to abandon their villages. Some have come to Kathmandu and are staying in temporary shelters. But providing them homes alone won't suffice; their livelihood should also be restored.
Stored paddy seeds are buried in the rubble and there are only two weeks to prepare seed-beds ahead of the monsoon but farmers are yet to get seeds.
Stored paddy seeds are buried in the rubble and there are only two weeks to prepare seed-beds ahead of the monsoon but farmers are yet to get seeds.
A total of 16,371 large animals (water buffalos, cows, oxen) are estimated to have died in recent earthquakes. With the loss of milk-giving cows and buffalos farmers have lost their major source of income. Likewise, 36,710 small animals like goats, pigs and sheep were killed while 451,688 fowls perished. All these figures have been taken from preliminary reports. Immediate recovery of farmers' lives is also important for the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is high time to provide relief to farmers but we also need a sustainable way to bring them into normal farming activities.
Post-disaster need assessment has already started. The government is drawing a blueprint for reconstruction of houses and settlements. There is a clamor for physical infrastructure like private houses, public and historical structures among ministers and planners but restoring farmers' livelihood gets little mention.
The government should provide farmers with milking cows and buffalos so that their livelihood is ensured; they should also be given seeds and other essential agricultural inputs. Some fear abundance of relief materials may make them lazy and they won't go to their fields again. We saw this after the Karnali food distribution after which people became completely dependent on doles.
Commonly, village youths are migrant workers. Women and elderly are taking care of cattle. Subsistence farming is a push factor behind youths going abroad for menial work, a craze also fuelled by easy foreign jobs without looking into income opportunities at home.
This is an opportunity to revive agriculture as well as boost agricultural production so that it will also reduce ballooning size of agro-product import. We import agro-products that the country can produce for itself. Every year agro products worth Rs 100 billion are imported while the trucks bringing in those imports return empty. Immediate start of reconstruction will not only create jobs for those outgoing youths but also create new demand in the market.
Self-employment in agriculture and also subsidy in agricultural inputs in addition to building value chains can encourage youths to engage in agriculture commercially, something already seen in many places, though sporadically. This is the right time to give this process added momentum.
Agriculture contributes 40 percent of GDP but its share is shrinking and contribution of manufacturing sector, which could have created more jobs, has also seen a decline by about 10 percent over a decade.
Many farmers frequent Kathmandu for short-term construction jobs. Starting construction work at the earliest in their districts and valleys will also help those farmers to earn and support their families.
There are discussions about relocation of families, particularly farmers, from quake-affected rural areas. But such plans of relocation to Tarai districts are neglected aspects of farmers' livelihood challenge. Physical facilities in relocated areas may be good but taking farmers away from their natural farming environment and their source of income (cattle and fields) can be counterproductive. Scattered houses can be consolidated in a well-managed settlement. However, settlements should not be far from original farmlands and grazing areas for cows and buffalos.
The author is with Republica's business bureau
Twitter: @rudrapangeni
Post-disaster need assessment has already started. The government is drawing a blueprint for reconstruction of houses and settlements. There is a clamor for physical infrastructure like private houses, public and historical structures among ministers and planners but restoring farmers' livelihood gets little mention.
The government should provide farmers with milking cows and buffalos so that their livelihood is ensured; they should also be given seeds and other essential agricultural inputs. Some fear abundance of relief materials may make them lazy and they won't go to their fields again. We saw this after the Karnali food distribution after which people became completely dependent on doles.
Commonly, village youths are migrant workers. Women and elderly are taking care of cattle. Subsistence farming is a push factor behind youths going abroad for menial work, a craze also fuelled by easy foreign jobs without looking into income opportunities at home.
This is an opportunity to revive agriculture as well as boost agricultural production so that it will also reduce ballooning size of agro-product import. We import agro-products that the country can produce for itself. Every year agro products worth Rs 100 billion are imported while the trucks bringing in those imports return empty. Immediate start of reconstruction will not only create jobs for those outgoing youths but also create new demand in the market.
Self-employment in agriculture and also subsidy in agricultural inputs in addition to building value chains can encourage youths to engage in agriculture commercially, something already seen in many places, though sporadically. This is the right time to give this process added momentum.
Agriculture contributes 40 percent of GDP but its share is shrinking and contribution of manufacturing sector, which could have created more jobs, has also seen a decline by about 10 percent over a decade.
Many farmers frequent Kathmandu for short-term construction jobs. Starting construction work at the earliest in their districts and valleys will also help those farmers to earn and support their families.
There are discussions about relocation of families, particularly farmers, from quake-affected rural areas. But such plans of relocation to Tarai districts are neglected aspects of farmers' livelihood challenge. Physical facilities in relocated areas may be good but taking farmers away from their natural farming environment and their source of income (cattle and fields) can be counterproductive. Scattered houses can be consolidated in a well-managed settlement. However, settlements should not be far from original farmlands and grazing areas for cows and buffalos.
The author is with Republica's business bureau
Twitter: @rudrapangeni
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