Spardha Chand
Kathmandu, July 15 : Poor availability of food in remote hill and mountain district caused by the drought last winter has led commodity price to increase markedly in June.
A market watch, a price assessment report, jointly produced by the UN World Food Program (WFP), the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Consumers Interest Protection Forum stated that Mugu district is the hardest hit by increase in the price of essential commodities.
The report said price of rice and beans shot up by 30 and 50 percent respectively between May and June in Mugu district. Similarly price of cooking oil also rose by five percent in the district. Reduced food stock in the district and insufficient external supply has resulted in the sky rocketing price of essential commodities, the report says.
According to the report, winter drought has resulted in the worse than usual supply situation this year especially in the remote hill and mountain districts. “For instance, wheat grain stocks have decreased in 75 percent of hill markets and were completely depleted in 40 percent of the mountain markets covered by the study”, the report added.
Ongoing monsoon rains are also expected to cause transportation problems over the coming months, which will further reduce food supplies in markets in remote areas, stated the report.
