 RUBEENA MAHATO SEED FUND: A woman in Ganeshpur dries seeds for next season's planting. |
Malla knows very well his family of eight would go hungry were it not for his two sons, who have been toiling in the Indian sun for the last eight years. His seven ropanies of rocky land can hardly feed the family for more than three months a year. Other families in the village fare no better. Almost all have at least one of their male family members working in India.
In village parlance, now is the time between the first peach blossoms until the trees give fruit, when they pray no one comes to their homes as guests.
It is not that people go entirely without food. People will say they haven't had food for days. Upon closer questioning it emerges that they have different ideas about what constitutes food. "Of course I didn't eat any food for days. I ate millet bread," says Junkiri� BK, 60. But food is scarce and for the people here, not having rice as a staple is just the same as going hungry. Millet is what they call a 'low food', and its cultivation has gone down by half. "How can we eat millet for food, we are Thakuris, what will people say?" asks Gorakh.
As the days pass, even millet bread is hard to come by. But people will not admit to eating yam and gruel because that is even worse. Thirty Dalit households here do not have a square foot of land in their possession other than what's taken up by their tiny homes. Since they do not have land to cultivate and rely on wage labour in the homes of upper castes for food, they are the most affected by food shortages.
There are also no irrigation facilities in the village, all farming is rain fed, and improved seed and farming techniques are unheard of. People farm the same way their forefathers did hundreds of years back, and are ill-equipped to deal with the prolonged droughts and frequent natural disasters that have bedeviled the region and contributed to low agricultural production.
Dadeldhura is one of 30 districts that receive food assistance from the government, with 11 of its VDCs classified as food insecure. There is no doubt that without subsidised food, many families in even worse-off districts like Bajura would not make it. But how long do government and donor agencies plan on tackling the problem through immediate relief? Where are the complementary programs to increase agricultural produce by constructing irrigation canals, to promote use of fertilisers and improved and drought resistant seed varieties, and increase farmers' access to the market? Where are the programs to promote the cultivation and consumption of locally suitable crops?
All our government seems to be concerned about is finding funds for food supply and this, too, is problematic. Food supply to 22 districts in the mid and far western region was halted a month ago owing to a funding shortfall for transportation. So food has been sitting in government warehouses. Ram Chandra Bhatta, Technical Assistant at the District Agricultural Office, Dadeldhura, says that there will be a food deficit of 15,000 metric tonnes in the district this year.
Time is running out. By monsoon, most of the hill roads will be impassable and food will have to be transported by air. The expense will be far greater than the Rs 200 million the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies is demanding now. But those lobbying for hefty supply commissions may have a better idea why the budget isn't being passed before the rains arrive.
Inevitably, more young men will have to travel to India in search of work while their fields lie barren back home. Their families will be forced to purchase rice on credit from unscrupulous dealers. No doubt, rice is a lucrative business for everyone concerned � except for those who most need it.
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