Nepal

Approximately 600,000 people in Nepal’s western hills region are at risk of suffering food shortage in the coming months, IRIN says. Aid agencies in the region said low agriculture production and economic inflation are the top factors threatening the residents’ food security. Several residents are already cutting their meal portions, reducing the number of their daily meals or moving to urban areas or to India to look for work, WFP country representative Richard Ragan said. The most at-risk area is Bajura, which is located some 500 kilometers from Kathmandu. Approximately 87 percent of the district’s population is food-insecure. Other vulnerable areas include Kalikot, Mugu, Jumla, Doti, Bajhan, Accham, Dailekh, Baitadi and Darchula.