Farming communities in central Nepal face a long recovery after flash floods and landslides on 26 August killed more than 1,000 people and devastated cropland and livestock in eleven municipalities along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river corridor north of Kathmandu, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has warned, Global Agriculture reports.

In a report this month, FAO said about 1,800 hectares of farmland were damaged, most of it paddy close to harvest, wiping out an estimated 7,700 tonnes of rice. The municipalities held more than 350,000 cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats and about 1.6 million poultry before the disaster, and FAO estimates 5 to 10% were lost.

"For farming families, these losses are about much more than the current harvest," said FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol. "Losing a crop can mean losing next season's production and next month's income."

The steep, narrow valleys pack farmland, roads and villages onto little flat ground, so surging rivers have little room to spread before reaching fields. Thousands of people remain unaccounted for, according to the report.

FAO's emergency response focuses on getting seed, tools and livestock feed to farmers in time for the next planting window; the agency has not yet published the full cost of its plan.

Source: Global Agriculture