Opinion
Fuel and freedom
If anything, this blockade should motivate Nepal to become food and energy secureJagannath Adhikari
The desperation of the people in Kathmandu and other urbanised locations across the country—though it has only been two weeks since the disruption of petroleum products and other commodities imported from India—reveals the shalowness of our economy. Nepal, even for its daily survival, is completely dependent on India and other countries. It is particularly dependent in its southern neighbour for food and energy: in the form of gas and petroleum products. However, the level of frustration that can be witnessed in the urban areas is not evident in rural areas because people there maintain a stock of food and are self-dependent on fuel, ie, fuelwood.
Most people, including me, had thought that this blockade would not last long mainly for the following reasons. First, it was triggered by a misunderstanding about Nepal’s new constitution. And, second, it harms Indian businesses as well.
On reading some reports published on the Indian media and watching discussions among high profile Indian politicians and scholars on Nepal, it is shocking to see how ill informed they are on the Nepali state of affairs. They do not even seem to know the provisions in the constitution that India is supposedly unhappy about. But then who is supplying them these wrong facts or are they just trying to justify India’s interference in another’s country’s internal matter and its embargo on Nepal? Nonetheless, one hoped that once the Indian establishment got its facts straight, it would lift the ‘unofficial’ embargo. In fact, India has ‘officially’ lifted the embargo. It must have realised that prolonged blockade would hamper Indian businesses as well. It has allowed trucks loaded with vegetables and fruits to enter Nepal. It must have also been aware that Nepal sends remittances amounting to $3.2 billion to India every year.
The previous blockade
In 1989-90, Nepal had faced a similar blockade for 15 months. But at that time, many people did not feel the impact of the trade embargo because Nepal was self-reliant in food and the consumption of petroleum products were minimal. This time around, Nepal’s dependency on India for both food and energy has risen by many folds. In 1990, Nepal only imported nine million litres of petroleum products from India. Now, it imports about 100 million litres a year, and about 70 percent of it is consumed in the Kathmandu Valley alone. Nepal depends on India for about 80 percent of its total food imports, worth almost Rs 120 billion a year. As a result of this extremely high level of dependence on the Indian market, we have experienced the impact of the blockade within a short period
of time.
Food sufficiency and solar power
This blockade also indicates that Nepal’s sovereignty is very fragile. This fragility stems from two sources: energy and food insecurity. So, in addition to attaining a certain degree of self-sufficiency in energy and food, Nepal also needs to diversify the sources from which it imports basic goods and commodities. Unless Nepal does this, Nepali politicians cannot have the freedom to make decisions without first consulting the agents/agencies on which the country is heavily dependent on. Their actions will also continue to be keenly monitored.
Any real or imagined threat to this interest will be immediately countered through various methods like trade blockade (as we are facing at the moment), through regime change (as has happened in the past), or by instigating political conflicts (this could happen in future).
A broad political unity, that helped Nepal sail through its rough political transition while promulgating the constitution, is also important to strategically deal with this blockade and for ensuring long-term food and energy security. Despite globalisation
which advocates for the free flow of goods and commodities across national boundaries, countries across the world continue to uphold multiple trade barriers. And these obstructions are often linked to the various vested interests of the powerful countries. This is the way the world works whether we like it or not. Therefore, a certain level of food self-sufficiency and energy security is important.
In spite of the potential to be energy secure through renewable energy sources like hydropower, solar, biomass and wind, Nepal has not committed itself to developing these resources. In this regard, Nepal should not hesitate to request China, which is producing solar power at a massive scale, to transfer this technology and provide necessary support to develop such such a sytem in the country. Similarly, Nepal should open more efficient trade routes with China and request it to extend its railway tracks up to Kathmandu for export-import diversification.
Think ahead
Some experts believe that Nepal has the capability to achieve food and energy security. But, Nepali politicians have always been more interested in securing immediate political gains than pursuing a long-term goal for sustainable development. Young leaders from all political parties need to form an alliance and force their parties to discuss and formulate strategies to make the country food and energy secure.
The present blockade could be a blessing in disguise as it is motivating people to do more. For instance, the youths are thinking and practicing alternative ways to cope with this fuel crisis and reducing the consumption of petroleum products.
The difficulties Nepal is facing are similar those experienced by Cuba after the US imposed a trade embargo on the country. Cuba was also heavily dependent on US mports. The embargo, however, pushed Cuba to initiate a new agricultural revolution using local organic inputs in all possible lands to produce more. Now Cuba’s Capital, Havana, meets 50 percent of vegetable requirements from the city itself, and other cities in Cuba are self-sufficient in vegetables and fruits. This clearly shows that a crisis can trigger new innovations. Hopefully, this will happen in Nepal as well.
Adhikari is a social scientist