The Kathmandu Valley is the most densely populated part of Nepal. Home to the capital city and heavily visited cultural sites, it is the heart of Nepal.

Unfortunately, its location in the Himalayan mountains, combined with an uptick in floods and landslides, has significantly affected grocery deliveries.

What's happening?

After a series of continuous rainstorms that caused other water-related disasters, supply routes into the Kathmandu Valley have been disrupted to the point of halting transport. Due to difficult weather forecasts, the government decided to close major highways leading into Kathmandu for three days and to declare nationwide public holidays, as reported in The Kathmandu Post.

The blockages have caused a delivery shortage throughout the valley. The produce markets are supposed to receive a daily supply of 700 tons. The markets received only 312 tons when the routes were officially stopped.

This has caused a surge in price amid a month packed with cultural festivals. The Kalimati Fruits and Vegetable Market Development Board said the wholesale prices of green vegetables rose by up to 134% in a single day due to the lack of supply. Other vegetables affected include onion, potato, carrot, cabbage, eggplant, cauliflower, pumpkin, mushrooms, and chiles.

Some roads have since been reopened but are under monitoring by authorities in landslide-prone areas.

Why is a food shortage in Kathmandu Valley important?

The Kathmandu Valley mainly sources its vegetables from neighboring districts, making it harder to stabilize prices because it does not control the market. Unfortunately, beyond the wholesale prices jumping due to a lack of supply, retailers are taking advantage of the consumers' desperation and pricing vegetables even higher. 

For example, a recent wholesale price for cauliflower was 95 Nepalese rupees per kilogram ($0.67), and retailers were selling it for as high as Rs160 per kilogram ($1.13).

Traders expect prices to remain high until the supply chain returns to normal, but consumers have little faith that prices will drop. 

"Vegetable prices never really go down," Jayaram Maharjan, a consumer from Nakkhu, said, per the Post. "Even when officials claim they've fallen, they always remain high."

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Climate disasters are no longer once-in-a-generation events. Floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and atmospheric rivers are in the news every season. 

All of these events are causing food shortages at farms, delaying food deliveries to stores, disrupting common transit routes, and raising prices to unaffordable levels for the average person.

What's being done about food shortages?

Food shortages can be addressed at both the local and systemic levels. You can encourage community gardens to reduce your area's dependency on mass-produced food. For those who cannot garden, you can also shop smarter at the grocery store by meal planning.

Systemically, farmers are working on creating more climate-resilient crops that can withstand climate disasters.

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