The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is continuing its urgent work as part of the emergency response in Nepal, after the two devastating earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May. The earthquakes have created a rural disaster because the worst-affected areas are some of the major crop production and livestock districts of Nepal. Agriculture is now a critical priority for the emergency response, with farmers in need of more urgent assistance to replant their crops, care for surviving livestock and rebuild their livelihoods. The Nepal Government requested FAO to focus on providing immediate assistance in the six worst-affected districts of Sindhupalchowk, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Gorkha, Dolakha and Dhading. These six districts accounted for 74 per cent of deaths, 23 per cent of people injured and more than half of the homes destroyed. The FAO is now warning of a growing risk of food insecurity because of the disastrous impact on farmers' crops and livestock.

Two-thirds of Nepalis rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, but half of all farming households in key rural districts lost nearly all of their stored crops of rice, maize, wheat and millet in the earthquakes. Affected families have also lost standing crops, tools, vital irrigation infrastructure and agricultural inputs such as fertilizer. The majority of Nepal’s farmers are in subsistence-based agriculture, with livestock representing one of the few sources of cash income and an important contribution to the household diet. Many animal shelters were also destroyed in the earthquakes, leaving livestock exposed to the weather. FAO estimates that more than 180,000 large animals, 38 000 sheep and goats and more than one million poultry were killed in the earthquakes.

Farmers wanting to sell or buy agricultural produce have faced the added challenge of market disruptions, including movement restrictions due to landslides. Some early landslides have already blocked rivers, potentially flooding nearby communities. Once the monsoon begins in earnest, in mid-June, the threat of landslides will increase significantly, which could hamper efforts to rebuild farming livelihoods and strengthen food security in the earthquake-affected districts.