The United Nations help the rural communities in western and southern Nepal suffering from serious food insecurity caused by increasing food and fuel prices, the effects of long-term conflict and the destruction of food stocks and crops by the recent floods. Around 1.5 million populations in the remote areas also require urgent help, the U.N. said in a statement late on Wednesday. The United Nations Central Emergency Response fund (CERF) has allocated NPR 247 million (US $3 million) to help them.

Robert Piper, chief of the U.N. office in Nepal, said, “Levels of acute malnutrition are extremely high, especially among poor, landless and marginalized populations.” A survey from International Food Policy Research Institute reveals that Nepal ranked at 57 among 88 nations in the Global Hunger Index 2008.

Many people of Nepal were killed and thousands others displaced in floods. Nepal receives more than 60% of the cost of its economic development from international donors.  

UNICEF will enhance the current district level nutrition services as well as promote awareness of malnutrition among the wider community. To enhance food security through increased crop production, the Food and agriculture Organization (FAO) will help farmers by providing seed and fertilizer kits, giving technical guidance, promoting sustainable soil management and crop diversification centers, by using CERF funds.