Karnali is in the news again for the same reason it keeps coming back in the news—food shortages triggered by a long dry spell. Officials say that the current drought to hit the region is the worst in 40 years. There has been no rain in almost seven months. As arable land lay fallow due to water shortages, crop production has dropped by almost half, according to reports from the districts.

The five districts of the Karnali zone—Humla, Jumla, Mugu, Dolpa and Kalikot—score the lowest in the human development indicators—on a par with countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Large parts of the region are remote and inaccessible. Over 42 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, compared to a national average of 23.2 percent.

With an estimated one percent of the land arable in the region, irrigation facilities are key to boosting food production. Yet it is not available in most places.

Ecologically, a huge swathe of the region is an alpine desert—arid highland with sparse vegetation located at an altitude between 4,000m to 5,000m. While not ideal for staple crops like paddy, wheat and maize, the region is not barren. Walnut, wild olive, Aloe Vera and Blue Agave plants grow naturally in the wild. Rain may be hard to come by but much of the region has abundance of snow—over 40 percent of the region situated above 4,500 meters. Experts have suggested building snow ponds as reservoir for irrigation.

Karnali, however, is not a wasteland as it is often depicted. Even working the fields has the potential to raise the living standard of the population provided that government and other development actors take a long view of the situation instead of just providing handouts. The current approach of treating it is a perennial emergency situation has created dependency on outside assistance—discouraging locals from growing the drought-resistant crops that can fetch good prices. Famers have stopped growing indigenous foods, such as kaguno, barley, buckwheat and beans, that can withstand the recurring dry spell.

The World Food Programme data show that Karnali is the most food-insecure region in Nepal. Even during a good harvest year, local food production lasts only six months. Of the total 400,000 people who live in the five districts, an estimated one-third are recurrently food insecure, according to researchers.

The facts are clear, but the strategy to deal with them is muddled with good intentions and bad planning. While the government and aid agencies need to fly in immediate food assistance, it needs to be accompanied with a clear actionable plan to boost local production in the next 2-3 years. These quick fixes need to have a shelf life; they cannot be a solution to a problem that we know would recur year after year.