Erratic Monsoon Rain Could Mean Up To 50% Crop Losses In Nepal, WFP Says - AFP

[hatrack]

Nepal, already struggling with high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity, could see its harvests cut in half this year due to late monsoon rains, the World Food Program says. Of particular concern, said Dominique Hyde, deputy country director of WFP in Nepal, is the mid and far western area of the country, home to 600,000 of the country's estimated 3.6 million people who are considered food insecure.

Hyde noted that there have been three droughts since 2006 and now the region is experiencing an erratic monsoon, which she attributed to climate change.

"We're expecting a 30-50 percent loss of harvest because of this year's monsoon," Hyde said, reports IRIN, the news agency of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The mid-western Karnali region -- considered the poorest, least developed and most food insecure part of Nepal -- has the highest levels of malnutrition in the country. Nearly 70 percent of children under 5 years old have stunted growth and nearly half are underweight, WFP says.

EDIT

http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Nepals_food_supply_at_risk_999.html

[amyrose2712]

1. ...

[aquart]

2. Famine.

It's an ugly way to die. And too many people in too many countries are going to be facing famine over the next century for aid organizations to make a significant difference.

Millions of children are going to starve to death because birth control is a forbidden topic. Populations are going to contract one way or the other. I think this way particularly sucks.

[Nihil]

3. +1

> Millions of children are going to starve to death because birth control
> is a forbidden topic. Populations are going to contract one way or the other.
> I think this way particularly sucks.

Completely agree (with all those points).