The group most impacted by food shortages are daily wage labourers and female-headed households. A quarter of non-farm labourers said they had lost their income sources, and 11% of daily wage workers in farms said they had lost their jobs.
The reduction in income was most acute among households with a migrant worker, those with a family member who needed medical treatment and those dependant on market purchases of food items. The most impacted by livelihood were daily wage earners both on farm and off-farm.
Of those surveyed 55% required to buy food from the market, while 44% grew and consumed their own food. Although three out of every four households surveyed said they had enough food stocks, 42% of those who said they had enough only had enough food to last a month.
Half of the households in the phone survey who said they did not have enough food said the reason was lack of money, followed by a shortage of food in the market and restricted access to markets because of the lockdown.
‘The fact that many households rely on markets for their food highlights a potential risk of deepening vulnerability, given that the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in broader losses of income in Nepal,’ the report concludes. ‘This could be further exacerbated when households’ food stocks are depleted, affecting those with existing vulnerabilities as well as other parts of the population that would be normally less vulnerable.’
Full Livelihoods, Food Security and Vulnerability Survey Report.