Bhutan’s fragile food system was exposed when the country closed its border in March last year to keep the country safe from Coronavirus. Many started hoarding foods since the country imports almost everything. To address this issue, a two-day subnational dialogue for the eastern region was held in Monggar recently.
The dialogue calls on the government and relevant stakeholders to prepare for the impacts of climate change on agriculture, address human-wildlife conflict and facilitate a good market of farm produces to secure the food system during the pandemic time. These are the main challenges faced by the farmers to achieve food self-sufficiency in the country. 25 participants from relevant stakeholders participated in the dialogue.
“We are basically trying to come together with all the sectors and the Dzongkhag as well the national level to know where we are standing and how we can improve further in the future,” said Ugyen Dorji, the Deputy Chief DEO in Lhuentse.
“We are exploring how the current food system functions and how they enable people to access healthy and nutritious food which will ultimately contribute towards the sustainable development goals. We are also identifying bottlenecks in the food system and exploring the strategies and solutions which can help address issues in the food system,” said Chhimi Lhamo, the Gender and Knowledge Management Officer for the CARLEP Office in Wengkhar, Monggar.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF) will conduct a national dialogue on the food system in the capital during the second week of this month after the completion of the subnational dialogues in the four regions. It will then present the outcome during the Global Food Summit that will be held towards the end of September this year.
“We also have participants from other sectors including health, education and private sectors. Through such dialogue, we are hopeful that we will come up with good resolutions which will be presented during the United Nations summit,” said Karma Tshering, the Chief Planning Officer at the MoAF.
The Chief Planning Officer also said that the ministry is soon coming up with three cold storage facilities in Kanglung, Wangdue Phodrang and Samtse to facilitate an uninterrupted supply of farm produce throughout the year. Such facilities will also be extended to other districts.
He also added that to address the climate change impacts on agriculture such as the outbreak of diseases and pests, loss of crop yield due to wind and rainstorm and loss of soil fertility due to soil erosion, the ministry is working on crop insurance schemes:
“The MoAF has received a circular from the Cabinet Secretariat. So we are working in collaboration with the insurance agencies on how to insure crops, fruits and vegetables and also how to provide the premium of the crops.”
It is true that the pandemic has exposed our fragile food system but it has also brought back many people to the rural areas to take up farming which will only strengthen the food system. Stories of fallow land revivals and youth venturing into large scale farming during the pandemic have kept the country’s hope alive for a stronger food system in the coming years.
Sonam Tshering, Monggar
Edited by Sonam
