National 7 (Spotlight Weekly)

Farmers In Frustration

The endless series of bandhs, strikes and blockades organized by the Maoists and the parties hit the farmers most

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

The incessant strikes and blockades imposed by the Maoists have begun to hit the poorest section of Nepalese society – its farmers.

A vegetable farmer : Affected by insecurity

On May 14, hundreds of farmers of Bhandara area of Chitawan district located in the western part of the country, dumped hundreds of kilograms of their fresh vegetables in the main road. Around 300 farmers of the district dumped 500 quintals of fresh vegetables worth nearly US$ 15000 in a protest to the week-long ban on the movement of cargo vehicles imposed by the Maoists.

In an unprecedented development, the farmers dumped cauli flowers, cabbage, lady fingers and so on in the main road after they could not get any vehicle to transport their goods for sales in markets in nearby cities as well as Kathmandu valley.

Farmers of Chitawan district are leading agriculture producers of the country. But due to the persistent strikes, they were losing millions of rupees everyday. Due to strike in transportation their fresh vegetables and other produces were decaying in absence of proper cold storage facilities. As a result, the farmers were forced to dump their precious production in the street to draw the attention to their plight.

Chitawan district alone produces over US$ 140,000 worth of fresh vegetables everyday. “We were compelled to dump our precious vegetables as we could not take them to the market for sales,” said Chudamani Bartaula, a local farmer.

Among the 300 farmers who dumped their products include a few who had taken fields on rent to grow vegetables. “We demand that vehicles carrying vegetables be allowed to move without restriction just like ambulances,” said Prem Prasad Panta, one such farmer of Bhandara.

The farmers’ outrage has shocked the country. “This is not a petty matter. No one dumps their products unless they are very, very angry,” said Keshab Badal, former agriculture minister and president of All Nepal Peasants Association (ANPA) – the largest body of farmers across the country.

However, it is not only the farmers of Chitawan who have suffered from the obstruction of movement of their goods. Maoists have imposed blockades (to prevent the flow of cargo goods and to cut off the villages with district headquarters and cities) in most parts of the country on May 10-17 followed by three day general strike. While they claim that the sanction is aimed at severing the supply lines of security forces, it is the farmers and businessmen who have been hit the hardest.

The farmers of Palung village of Makwanpur district – known for delicious fresh vegetable production – have been compelled to look at their vegetables decaying in their fields. The plight of farmers across the country is similar.

In Kavre district, which neighbors Kathmandu valley, farmers are forced to witness the wastage of 120,000 liters of milk everyday as they were not able to transport it to the capital city.

Maoists have bombed and set fire to a number of passenger buses as well as trucks carrying goods across the country to force their blockade. They have threatened the cargo carriers against transporting goods. Even though the government has said that it is ready even to provide security escorting if requested, the number of vehicles plying in the highways during the blockades and strikes were abysmally low. According to traffic police post in Thankot – the major gateway into Kathmandu valley – during the blockade the number of vehicles flowing to and fro the post has declined by almost 90 percent.

In the immediate aftermath of their week-long blockades, the Maoists imposed three-day Nepal Bandh (general strike on May 18-20) crippling the normal life across the country. All businesses, schools and enterprises were closed down.

The Bandh has been increasingly turning out to be a menace to daily wage earners, agricultural producers as well as dairy producers. Chandra Bahadur KC, a daily wage earner from Dolakha who works in Kathmandu, said, “During strikes we do not get any work and are compelled to sleep with hungry stomachs.”

Man Bahadur Tamang, another daily wage earner who makes his ends meet by selling bamboo baskets in the capital said that life was getting harder due to increased number of strikes. “Strikes are a curse to daily wage earners like me,” he said.

Due to blockades and strikes, the supply of essential goods to the capital has started to get affected. Already the city is suffering from severe dearth of milk. According to officials at the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC), although there is a demand for 140,000 liters of milk per day in the capital, they could only supply half of that during strikes and blockades.

Likewise, the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, too, have been affected. According to officials, the prices of vegetables have gone up by 10 percent in the last couple of days. But in retail shops, the prices have jumped even by up to 100 percent in some cases.

An official at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said that apart from milk, there is no dearth of other essential goods at present.

Any effect on agriculture sector is likely to trigger widespread alarm since 76 percent of the total population (23 million) are engaged in this sector in the country. The agriculture occupies 40 percent of total GDP. “This year, the country could achieve over 4 percent economic growth despite the insecurity and insurgency only because the agriculture sector grew by over 3 percent due to favorable weather,” said Dr. Shankar Prasad Sharma, vice chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC). Experts say that moves to derail agriculture sector could have crippling outcome on national economy.

“The root of the problem lies on the feudal land ownership structure prevalent in the country – nearly 19 percent of our farmers (around one million people) still do not own any land. There has to be major changes in the policies and practices to help the farmers,” said Badal, who is also a Standing Committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist Leninist, the largest political party in the dissolved parliament.

The eight years of Maoist insurgency has hurt the agriculture sector severely. “Farmers are the most affected lot. Hundreds of them have lost their lives, thousands have been forced to leave their native places and thousands are forced to watch their barren land as only elderly people, women and children are left in many villages,” said Badal.

According to the Human Rights Yearbook 2004 published by Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), after political workers and police personnel, farmers topped the list of victims killed during conflict. In the year 2003, the report states, 139 agriculture workers were killed by the Maoists and 153 by the government side.

The importance of agriculture cannot be exaggerated in Nepal. “The agriculture sector is central to the livelihood of Nepalese, contributing to around 40 percent of the country’s GDP and employing 76 percent of its labor force. For 90 percent of the poor, I.e. households in the bottom 25 percent of the consumption scale, agriculture is the only income generating activity,” states a report titled “Nepal: Trade and Competitiveness Study” prepared by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies with the World Bank assistance.

Exemplary Performers Awarded

Finance Secretary Bhanu Prasad Acharya presented certificates of commendation to representatives of three project management teams of Asian Development Bank (ADB) assisted projects for exemplary performance in 2003.

The three projects receiving the awards are: Third Livestock Development Project, Irrigation Management Transfer Project, and the Road Network Development Project.

The selection was done on the basis of their implementation performance, achievement of development objective, their contract award performance, disbursement performance, submission of audited financial statements and project accounts, change in project performance, adequate staffing, submission of periodic report, team initiatives and response to ADB's queries.

The Third Livestock Development Project promoted forage production in public, private, community, and degraded lands, covering about 9,200 hectares, which is reducing cost of production for milk and meat (replacing imported feeds), stabilizing degraded lands and protecting the environment of the project area. The project has a large number of women beneficiaries, who have increased their income and are utilizing it for family health care and children's education.

Irrigation Management Transfer Project addresses the deterioration of the public irrigation schemes, which is partly responsible for the poor performance of the agriculture sector in Nepal. The project activity focuses on the establishment of sustainable and effective water users associations (WUAs), and the rehabilitation and improvement of the existing irrigation and drainage facilities. Implementation performance of the Project substantially improved in 2003.

The Road Network Development Project will improve and maintain the East-West Highway and other strategic and important roads throughout Nepal to allow access to rural areas and contribute to developing an effective national road network. This will help in poverty reduction by improving access to markets, social facilities, and income and employment opportunities.

The ADB Nepal Resident Mission (NRM) had instituted the award in 1996 to encourage project staff in ADB-assisted projects to excel. "The award recognizes excellence in project implementation and indicates ADB's commitment to improving portfolio performance," said ADB's Nepal Country Director Sultan Hafeez Rahman.

The ADB is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 63 members – 45 from the region. In 2003, it approved loans and technical assistance worth US$6.1 billion and US$177 million, respectively.

CBS Estimates Growth Rate At 3.64 Percent

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) has projected that the growth rate this fiscal year will only be around 3.64 percent. This projection is less by one percent compared to the government’s estimation.

In the mid-term review of the budget, the government had stated that the economy would grow by over 4 percent this year. Likewise, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), too, had estimated around 4 percent growth. In the initial months of the fiscal year, the economy was expected to grow by over 4 percent due to favorable weather, ceasefire and increased activities.

But subsequently, the deteriorating situation of security has hurt the economic sector. The CBS projection states that the agriculture sector, which contributes 40 percent to the GDP, will grow by 3.73 percent – more by one percent compared to last year. Likewise, the non-agriculture sector will grow by 3.33 percent. This year, the country had witnessed very good monsoon with 33 percent more rainfall compared to previous year – resulting in the growth of paddy production by over 8 percent.

The CBS data shows that the construction sector will grow only by 0.27 percent this year. On the other hand, electricity, gas and drinking water consumption will grow by 7.65 percent. These sectors had grown by 7.48 percent last year. Likewise, trade, restaurant and hotel sector are expected to grow by 5.78 percent – compared to 4.8 percent growth last year. Transport and communication sector is estimated to grow by 5.58 percent – compared to 3.87 percent growth last year.

Furthermore, the CBS estimates that this year the mining sector will expand by 2.5 percent, industrial manufacturing by 2.48 percent, real estate by 2.78 percent and community and social sector by 3.12 percent.

Likewise, the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) shows that the per capita income of Nepalis have increased to US$ 269. The National Accounts Statistics released by the CBS states that due to increased remittances from workers abroad, the per capita income has increased from last year’s US$ 242. The report states that the per capita GNP (Gross National Product) has increased to US$ 276.