Situated between two of the world's emerging economies, India and China, Nepal is one of the world's poorest countries. Here, 31% of the population lives below the poverty line1. Over a third of the population consumes less than 2250 Kcal per day2. A clear sign of extreme poverty and hunger is that 48.3% of children in Nepal are underweight, a rate higher than that of war ravaged Afghanistan3. Low economic growth, social inequality, widespread corruption, violent conflict and political instability are the major causes of poverty in Nepal4. Whereas the economies of neighboring countries China and India are growing at a fast pace, around 9% and 8% respectively5, Nepal's growth rate was 2% in 2004/2005.6 The kingdom has been in violent conflict since 1996 when the communist party of Nepal, the Maoists, declared a people's war. The political situation has worsened since the King seized power in February 2005.

Social inequality

Nepal has traditionally been a Hindu kingdom. There is great social inequality and suppression based on religion and caste. Gender bias against women is marked, especially in rural areas where they are deprived of education resulting in a 65% to 43% difference in literacy rates between men and women. Also, on average, a woman's income is just the half of what a man earns.7

The indigenous people and 'Dalits' (the suppressed caste) face the most grueling inequalities. They are deprived not only of educational and economic opportunities but also of social activities such as entering temples for prayer and collection of drinking water from public taps or wells. In 1999, indigenous people and Dalits constituted 36% and 15% of total population but they held just 8.42% and 0.17% posts in government agencies respectively8.

Violent conflict and political instability

Violent conflict in Nepal originates in the country's underlying poverty and social discrimination. In effect, the conflict also fuels the plight of the poor who are the most vulnerable group in such unstable times. In 1996, the year the Maoist insurgency began, the poverty rate was 72% in the mid and far western regions and only 4% within Kathmandu valley8. Maoist insurgency began in those regions and they are still the worst affected areas today.

Farmers in the rural area have been worst affected by the conflict. Very often farming villages are compelled to provide food and shelter to the Maoist guerillas. They are taxed by Maoists and are often not allowed to harvest their agricultural products. These farmers then late face the threats and torture from government security forces for alleged support of the terrorists.

Farmers find it hard to sell their products and get income because of a series of strikes called by the Maoists. In May 2004, nearly 300 farmers from the Chitwan district dumped fresh vegetables worth $15,000 on the main road9 out of frustration over the prolonged strikes that prevented them from selling their products. Elsewhere there were images on television of people under similar circumstances who were pouring milk onto the road.

More than 80% of people of Nepal are farmers living in rural areas. They have found it impossible to live in their home and have dispersed to other parts of the nation and to neighboring India. Indeed, estimates indicate that between 100,000 and 200,000 people have been internally displaced10. These people have faced poor living conditions and hunger. There is little prospect for the development of many villages now left without working manpower, but the elderly and women.

Hunger

The population living below the poverty line suffers from 'hungry seasons' lasting up to two or three months each year11. In 31 of the 75 districts in Nepal food production is significantly less than the demand, the worst affected being mountainous regions. The government is unable to supply the normally required amount of food to these areas, let alone a stock in case of emergencies. This become much worse in light of the insurgency as transport has been interrupted to many areas and there is frequent looting of the food by Maoists.

Poor weather and geographical conditions already makes food production in these areas difficult. Indeed, these regions lying at high altitude are referred to as 'deserts in the sky' because of the lack of monsoon rain12.

Is there hope for Nepal?

Nepal had signed the UN millennium declaration committing itself to the achievement all targets, set out to be fulfilled by 2015. Despite the political conflict and violence in Nepal it is on the track to achieve most of these goals. However, some seem unachievable unless there is a change soon.

The Nepal Millenium Development Goal (MDG) progress report of 20051 suggests it is likely to achieve all the goals except those regarding universal primary education and stopping the spread of HIV/ AIDS. The report cites a lack of initiatives, to reach children from disadvantaged and marginalized groups, as the main reason for the likely failure to achieve the MDG aiming to provide primary education for all.

The report also suggests that the implementation of programs to combat HIV/AIDS are not effective enough to prevent a likely epidemic in the future. Currently Nepal is in a state of concentrated epidemics of HIV/AIDS with the prevalence rates of more than 5 % in certain subpopulations including female sex workers, intravenous drug abusers and labor migrants returning from India.

Can Nepal really achieve these goals? What lies beyond the MDGs? Even full achievement of the MDGs would not eradicate the problems that are targetted but it will reduce their burden. An end of the violence and political instability would have a much greater influence on the future of the country. Democracy is a must for progress on the issues discussed but when this might ever happen in Nepal is unclear.

Kaushal Raj Pandey isis a final yearstudent at Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu Nepal and a general member of Nepal Student Society. He has interest in cardiology writing on global health issues.

References:

1. United Nations Development program. Nepal Millennium Development Goals progress report 2005. www.undp.org.np/publication/html/mdg2005/mdg_npl.pdf
2. United Nations World Food Program. World-Hunger www.wfp.org/country_brief/indexcountry.asp?country=524
3. Naming and Shaming. Nepali Times 2005 Sep 16-22.
4. National Planning Commission. The tenth plan. Poverty (Chapter 3). www.npc.gov.np/tenthplan/english/Poverty_Analysis.pdf
5. India's real growth rate. Time Asia Magazine 2005 Dec12.
6. Central Bureau of Statistics. National Accounts 2004 - www.cbs.gov.np
7. United Nations Development Project. Human Development Report 2005. Country Sheet. Nepal. hdr.undp.org/data/countries.cfm?c=NPL
8. United Nations Development Project. Human Development Report 2005. hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_complete.pdf
9. Maoist strikes spell disaster for Nepal's Farmer. Yahoo News. 2004 May 22. in.news.yahoo.com/040522/43/2d8mp.html
10. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. Displacement worsens in the wake of royal coup. www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004CE90B/(httpCountries)/E545F30B5618B71D802570A7004BD25C?opendocument&count=10000
11. United States Agency International Development. Agriculture Sector Program. www.usaid.gov/np/programs/ag_main.html
12. Eyewitness: Life under Nepal's Maoists. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2664869.stm