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Add to Preferred SourcesSevere flooding is devastating Nepal’s main food-producing region, swamping farm fields, sweeping away thousands of livestock and displacing families. The disaster is threatening to cause a serious food shortage in the South Asian nation.
“More than 15,000 farming families that we work with in southern Nepal are suffering from the flash flooding, and we believe the number will rise as we reestablish contact with communities that have been cut off. Many have had to flee their homes, and they lack food and water,” said Sumnima Shrestha, a spokeswoman for Heifer International, a U.S.-based nonprofit working to end poverty with sustainable agriculture and economic development.
“The heavy rains hit at one of the worst times in southern Nepal, shortly after farmers planted their rice crop in the country’s most important agricultural region,” said Shrestha, who is based in Nepal. “The rice will likely be lost. Making matters worse, thousands of livestock have disappeared in the flash flooding. The loss of grain and animals could set Nepal up for a severe shortage of food.”
Many of the displaced families Heifer works with are staying in schools, tents or community buildings. Roads are submerged and bridges are impassable, cutting off transport to the affected areas.
Original source: Heifer International.
Posted on 13 August 2017.