CERF allocates $6 million for critical food assistance to drought-affected populations in Nepal
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Food insecure populations in Nepal
[Photo: IRIN]
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18 December 2008: The humanitarian challenges from the aftermath of the conflict are still manifest in Nepal. A significant number of people remain vulnerable to external shocks, as was evidenced by the impact of recent floods, drought and high food prices on the poorest segment of the population.
Nepal continues to struggle from the combined effects of the international food and economic crises. This comes on top of the more endemic factors including a domestic food production crisis, high rates of poverty, ten years of civil conflict, and ongoing political instability.
Some 3.4 million people are estimated to be highly to severely food insecure, due in large part to the increase in food prices in recent years, and compounded further by the 2008/09 winter drought. An additional five million people are estimated to have fallen below the poverty line in Nepal during the past three years due to sustained high food prices.
CERF allocated $6 million to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide critical food assistance for approximately 302,000 people most affected by the 2008/9 winter and summer droughts.
[last updated on 22 December 2009]