Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goals
Humanity has been threatened by pandemics since several decades with devastating effects on all human activities including the economy, and environment. Currently, the world is reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major threat to the livelihood of billions of people w...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2021-06-01
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Series: | Journal of Agriculture and Food Research |
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Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154321000405 |
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author | Toyanath Joshi Ram Prasad Mainali Srijana Marasini Krishna Prasad Acharya Santosh Adhikari |
author_facet | Toyanath Joshi Ram Prasad Mainali Srijana Marasini Krishna Prasad Acharya Santosh Adhikari |
author_sort | Toyanath Joshi |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Humanity has been threatened by pandemics since several decades with devastating effects on all human activities including the economy, and environment. Currently, the world is reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major threat to the livelihood of billions of people worldwide. Nepal is not an exception to this and has been seriously threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The thousands of the peoples who depend on daily wages to join hand to mouth has been under the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic because of job loss, disruption in the food supply chain. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has thwarted Nepal's targets to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals including an unprecedented state of vulnerability to hunger and poverty in the country. Though some informal shreds of evidence have reported the negative impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals, none of the scientific literature has been available regarding such impacts in Nepal yet. This review aims to synthesize extant literature that reports the effects of COVID-19 on the Nepalese economy and implications for achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.We found that the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges to achieve the country's committed United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals for Nepal. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a unique “income shock” that is supposed to precipitate household food insecurity in developing economy like Nepal. Our review indicated that the percentage of populations below poverty could rise even more than the present national reported value of 18% in the post-pandemic era. We emphasized generating employment and income-earning opportunities to build a resilient food system. Further, we urged to build international consensus to reset and rethink the course of sustainable development goals. |
first_indexed | 2024-12-17T03:04:21Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-ed33cd498138498d8e6137fadfa301c2 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2666-1543 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-17T03:04:21Z |
publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Agriculture and Food Research |
spelling | doaj.art-ed33cd498138498d8e6137fadfa301c22022-12-21T22:05:59ZengElsevierJournal of Agriculture and Food Research2666-15432021-06-014100138Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goalsToyanath Joshi0Ram Prasad Mainali1Srijana Marasini2Krishna Prasad Acharya3Santosh Adhikari4Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock Development, 44600, APO, Singhadarbar, Kathmandu, Nepal; Corresponding author.National Agriculture Genetic Resources Center, NARC, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, NepalDepartment of Agriculture, 44712, APO, Hariharbhawan, Lalitpur, NepalAnimal Quarantine Office (AQO), 44600, APO, Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu, NepalMinistry of Agriculture & Livestock Development, 44600, APO, Singhadarbar, Kathmandu, NepalHumanity has been threatened by pandemics since several decades with devastating effects on all human activities including the economy, and environment. Currently, the world is reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major threat to the livelihood of billions of people worldwide. Nepal is not an exception to this and has been seriously threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The thousands of the peoples who depend on daily wages to join hand to mouth has been under the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic because of job loss, disruption in the food supply chain. Also, the COVID-19 pandemic has thwarted Nepal's targets to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals including an unprecedented state of vulnerability to hunger and poverty in the country. Though some informal shreds of evidence have reported the negative impacts of COVID-19 on Sustainable Development Goals, none of the scientific literature has been available regarding such impacts in Nepal yet. This review aims to synthesize extant literature that reports the effects of COVID-19 on the Nepalese economy and implications for achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals.We found that the COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented challenges to achieve the country's committed United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals for Nepal. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a unique “income shock” that is supposed to precipitate household food insecurity in developing economy like Nepal. Our review indicated that the percentage of populations below poverty could rise even more than the present national reported value of 18% in the post-pandemic era. We emphasized generating employment and income-earning opportunities to build a resilient food system. Further, we urged to build international consensus to reset and rethink the course of sustainable development goals.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154321000405COVID-19Sustainable development goalsFood securityFood supply chainAgricultureImpacts |
spellingShingle | Toyanath Joshi Ram Prasad Mainali Srijana Marasini Krishna Prasad Acharya Santosh Adhikari Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goals Journal of Agriculture and Food Research COVID-19 Sustainable development goals Food security Food supply chain Agriculture Impacts |
title | Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goals |
title_full | Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goals |
title_fullStr | Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goals |
title_full_unstemmed | Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goals |
title_short | Nepal at the edge of sword with two edges: The COVID-19 pandemics and sustainable development goals |
title_sort | nepal at the edge of sword with two edges the covid 19 pandemics and sustainable development goals |
topic | COVID-19 Sustainable development goals Food security Food supply chain Agriculture Impacts |
url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666154321000405 |
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