Basu Dev Kaphle1*, Madhu Sudhan Ghimire1 , Sandip Subedi1 , Indra Raj Pandey2
1 National Centre for Potato Vegetables and Spice Crops Development, Kirtipur
2 Nepal Horticulture Society, Khumaltar, Lalitpur
*Corresponding authors' email: kaphlebasu@gmail.com
Abstract
This paper aims to provide the general overview on the contribution of horticulture sector in food and nutrition security and understand the impact of COVID-19 crisis with post COVID recovery strategy. The paper is based on literature review and working experiences and expertise of authors working in the agriculture sector in Nepal and the information is further supplemented by consultations with experts, farmers and government officials working in agriculture sector. Horticulture is a very important sector of agriculture for improving livelihoods of people through income generation food and nutritional security. Since 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused the socio-economic suffering all over the world including Nepal. Overall study showed that production and marketing of perishable horticultural crops were heavily affected by COVID-19 due to lockdown and transport restriction. However, there was a positive realization that horticulture sector should be prioritized with the post COVID recovery plan for food and nutrition security. For this, there is also a need for integrated policies and their implementation plan to ensure technical and financial support with sufficient budget allocation, subsidies schemes with an easy access and timely availability of inputs, access to soft loan, supply chains and assured markets for horticultural commodities.
Keywords: Horticulture, food security, COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown, socio-economic impact