Abstract
Kathmandu valley is highly populated and most severe localized food insecure area, with limited land available for food, fiber and flower production in Nepal. Relevant literatures and available data were reviewed to find the trend of food availability and consumption in relation to developing strategies for sustained production and supply in the valley, in the year 2018. Study revealed that, the Import Dependency Ratio (IDR) of pulses, sugar, silk, jute, rubber, cotton, tea and wool were 100% in Kathmandu valley in 2018. Where, the IDR of fish was 99.1%, coffee 92.9%, oils and ghee 90.8%, spices 89.1%, potato 87.7%, cereals 87.4%, milk 86.1%, eggs 85.9%, meat 85.2%, vegetables 81.9%, fruits 70.8%, cut flowers 74.0% and honey 43.6%. However, there was a scope to restore the self sufficiency on vegetables, potato, spices, and honey and minimizing the import of cereals, fruits, milk, meat and eggs through the adoption of improved urban agriculture in Kathmandu valley. Moreover, establishment of new commercial agriculture farms, expansion of cropping area/heard sizes and raising the productivity in/around valley and across the country, can restore the food/fiber/flower sufficiency. It needs to increase investment on agriculture, improve food habit and the consumption pattern, prioritize food production and distribution system, maintain at least 50% food deficit as buffer stocks, establish high tech agriculture infra-structures, mechanization, linking rural community to valley markets with strong planned, coordinated and participatory food and nutrition programs. It also needs to invest the rural agriculture by the valley/urban economy.
References
[1] FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). (2003). The state of food insecurity in the world. Retrieved 07 March 2019 from http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/j0083e/j0083e00.htm.
[2] Global Food Security Index. (2016). Annual measure of the state of global food security. Retrieved 07 March 2019 from https://www.google.com/search?ei=P9hTXZjzGcao9QO2tIvoDg&q=global+food+security+index+2016&oq=global+food+security+index+2016&gs_l=psyab.1.0.0i19j0i22i30i19.1304612.1304612..1311200...0.0..0.199.199.0j1......0....1..gws-wiz.jfS9W YAGj0s.
[3] Global Hunger Index. (2018). Retrieved 07 March 2019 from https://www.acted.org/en/global-hunger-index-2018/.
[4] WFP (World Food Program). (2015). Hunger map 2015. Retrieved 07 March 2019 from https://www.acww.org.uk /assets/wfp2750571.pdf.
[5] Chitrakar, A. (2010). My tribute to a book about food. The life of food in Nepal. WFP publication. P7.
[6] FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). (2020). Five ways to make cities healthier and more sustainable. Retrieved 20 May 2020 from http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1260457/.
[7] Meredith, G. (2015). The Death of Distance: Food Deserts Across the Global Divide. Retrieved 20 May 2020 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304802977_The_Death_of_Distance_Food_Deserts _Across_the _Global_Divide.
[8] Robert, M., Rader, R., and Kristiansen, P. E. (2020). Urban agriculture could provide 15% of food supply to Sydney Australia under expanded land use scenarios. Retrieved 20 May 2020 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339674839 _Urban_agriculture_could_provide_15_of_food_supply_to_Sydney_Australia_under_expanded_land_use_scenarios.
[9] Shakya, S. (2010). From farm to market. The life of food in Nepal. WFP publication. P. 18.
[10] e-Krishi Shiksha. (2020). Crop process engineering. Retrieved August 10, 2020 from: http://www.ddgs.umn.edu/articles- proc-storage-quality/2001-Davis-%20Processing.pdf.
[11] Devkota, A. R., Dhakal, D. D., Gautam, D. M., and Dutta, J. P. (2014). Assessment of fruit and vegetable losses at major wholesale markets in Nepal. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol., 2(4), 559-562.
[12] Chourasia, M. K., Maji, P., Baskey, A., and Goswami, T. K. (2005). Estimation of moisture loss from cooling data of potatoes. Journal of Food Process Engineering, 28(4), 397-416.
[13] Christopher, R. R. (1999). The butcher kept your meat? Retrieved 12 August 2020 from: https://animalscience.psu.edu /extension/meat/pdf/The%20Butcher%20Stole%20My%20Meat.pdf.
[14] ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research). (1985). Nutritional requirements in India. Retrieved 07 March 2019 from http://www.fao.org/3/x0172e/x0172e02.htm.
[15] WHO (World Health Organization). (1986). In Max Roser and Hannah Ritchie 2018. Food per person. Retrieved 07 March 2019 from https://ourworldindata.org/food-per-person.
[16] MoAD (Ministry of Agriculture Development). (2017/018). Statistical information on Nepalese agriculture 2017/018. Agri-Business Promotion and Statistics Division Singha Durbar Kathmandu Nepal.
[17] TCDB (Tea and Coffee Development Board). (2017/018). Annual Report, 2017/018.
[18] Smart city. (2019). How can smart cities have self-sufficient food system? Pioneers are here to inspire! Retrieved 20 May 2020 from https://www.smartcity.press/food-system-in-smart-cities/.
[19] Sushma, M. (2018). Hunger amid abundance: The Indian food security enigma. Retrieved 27 April 2020 from www.futuredirections.org.au › ...
[20] OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). (2017). The governance of land use. Retrieved 29 April 2020 from https://www.oecd.org/regional/regional-policy/land-use-Japan.pdf.
[21] Nickerson, C. and Borchers, A. (2012). How is land in the United States used? A focus on agricultural land. Retrieved 29 April 2020 from https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2012/march/data-feature-how-is-land-used/.
[22] Dhital, P. R. (2017). Agricultural extension in Nepal: experiences and issue. Retrieved 12 February 2020 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319617467_.
[23] The World Bank Group. (2019). Cereal production. Retrieved 29 April 2020 from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator /AG.PRD.CREL.MT.
[24] FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). (2010). Statistical yearbook of the Food and Agricultural Organization. Retrieved 30 April 2020 from www.fao.org/3/i3138e/i3138e05.pdf.
[25] Wikipedia. (2020). Agriculture in the United States. Retrieved 29 April 2020 from https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Agriculture_in_the_United_States#Yield.
[26] Knoema. (2018). Denmark primary vegetables yield. Retrieved 30 April 2020 from https://knoema.com/atlas/Denmark/topics /Agriculture/Crops-Production-Yield/Primary-vegetables-yield.
[27] Martin, L. (2018). Statistics Denmark. Retrieved 30 April 2020 from https://www. dst.dk/en/Statistik/emner /erhvervslivets-sektorer/landbrug-gartneri-og-skovbrug/vegetabilsk-produktion.
[28] Henrik, N. (2015) Farming and milk production in Denmark. Retrieved 30 April 2020 from https://www.whff.info /documentation/documents/ehc2007/02%20Farming%20and%20milk%20production%20in%20Denmark.pdf).
[29] Pokhrel, S. (2020). Food availability and consumption in relation to developing strategies for sustained production and supply in Nepal. Journal of Agriculture and Forestry University, 4: 13-28.
[30] Pokhrel, S. (2020). Impact of Covid-19 Lockdown on Agriculture and Developing Strategies Against it for Sustained Food Production and Supply: Special Focus to Nepal. Journal of Environment Sciences (JoEnvSc)., 6: 1-11.
[31] NeKSAP (Nepal Food Security Monitoring System). (2011/012). Nepal Food Balance by Districts. Retrieved 07 March 2019 from Nepal+Food+Balance+by+Districts+2011%2F012&oq=Nepal+Food+Balance+by+Districts+2011%2F012 &gs_l=psyab. 12...5565.10585..12705...0.0..0.381.1082.0j4j0j1...... 0....1j2..gws -wiz.Aihtq5XQ3v4.