Reuters
Kathmandu

The United Nations must destroy hundreds of tonnes of substandard food it imported for distribution to survivors of the recent earthquakes in Nepal, a senior Nepali
government official said yesterday.
Two quakes, on April 25 and May 12, killed 8,844 people, injured more than 22,000 and destroyed 500,000 homes forcing tens of thousands into temporary shelters and in need of food and medical care.
The UN’s World Food Programme has distributed more than 6,500 tonnes rice, high energy biscuits, pulses and oil to more than two million people in areas hit by the disaster.
But Nepal’s food technology and quality control department said laboratory tests of some rice and pulse samples showed they were “unfit for human
consumption”.
That included more than 500 tonnes of split peas stored in Nepalgunj in the southwest of the country, and 6 tonnes of rice in Laprak, a village in the badly-hit central Gorkha district.
WFP said none of the problem food was distributed and the stocks would be returned to suppliers once the government cleared necessary papers because they had failed to meet the quality specifications.
“We are investigating all the steps the damaged food passed through,” said Richard Ragan, WFP’s emergency co-ordinator.
He said WFP took food quality and safety “extremely seriously”, had cancelled the supply contract
and would replace the food.
But Uttam Kumar Bhattarai, a senior agriculture ministry official, said the damaged food must be destroyed in front of
witnesses from the local authorities.
“Replacement means you are taking the substandard food back which could be distributed elsewhere,” Bhattarai said. “So this should be destroyed.”
He said if WFP did not destroy the food then government
authorities would do it.
Last week, Nepal said the relief phase for the earthquake victims was over and received $4.4bn in pledges from donors for the post-earthquake
reconstruction.
Nepal’s overall cereal crop output is expected to drop by at least this year from 3% the earlier projection, says a report of its agriculture ministry.
Paddy production will suffer the most, but wheat production is expected to grow by 5% while barley production is likely to grow by 7%.
The recent earthquakes have seriously hit the winter crops in districts worst hit by the quakes, the report says, adding that winter crop output is likely to
decline by 8%.
Paddy and maize output was largely affected last year due to the erratic monsoon and it would further decline this year following the earthquake, as large swaths of agricultural land in the earthquake-affected districts had developed cracks or were likely to witness landslides during the rainy season, said Udaya Chandra Thakur, spokesman
for the agriculture ministry.
“Paddy is the main staple food and major crop of Nepal. Paddy output is expected to drop at least 5% this year as farmers in the earthquake-affected districts are not in a position to
cultivate their land,” Thakur said.
The report says millet production is expected to grow by 1.5% this year followed by buckwheat. However, the share of millet and buckwheat production in Nepal is very low compared to paddy and maize production.
Cash crops like oil seeds, potato, sugarcane, jute, lentils, tea, fruits and vegetables are likely to witness significant growth
this year.
Milk and meat production will, however, see a decline as the earthquake had killed a large number of livestock.
According to the report, at least 58,000 cattle and 40,000 birds died in the earthquake.
The agriculture ministry had earlier projected overall 5% growth in agricultural production.
Nepal is an agricultural country and agriculture contributes to almost half of its total GDP.

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