Across Nepal, COVID-19 pandemic cases were at an all-time high and predicted to double each week; quarantine facilities and hospitals were full. COVID-19 cases are no longer confined to urban areas, but rural areas and highly remote villages, including the farm households in the Feed the Future Zone of Influence in the Terai. COVID-19 adds additional uncertainties to existing climate stresses and risks, and makes rural families the most vulnerable, being under additional financial pressure to meet their basic needs.

More than 3.5 million Nepalis are estimated to work abroad, many in India. However, now an average of 4,000 people have been returning from India and elsewhere into the western districts of Nepal each day. The return migrants are predominantly laborers who have lost their jobs. With an increased number of young men looking for job opportunities, the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) is now implementing a buy-in project that develops mechanisms to support longer-term resilience among smallholder farmers and the private sector — with emphasis on empowering youth and overcoming challenges faced by rural families in Nepal.

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