The government has started distributing rice in the food-hit areas of Bajhang district under its Food for Work (FfW) programme.

According to the District Agriculture Development Office, drought coupled with blight had caused Bajhang’s rice production to decline by nearly 80 percent last year.

The FfW scheme was launched targeting the areas with high food insecurity.

Around 1,400 tonnes of rice was distributed to the people from Masta Village Council from the Nepal Food Corporation’s (NFC) depot at Chainpur in the first phase, said Jagat Prasad Joshi of the District Technical Office.

He added that another 1,200 tonnes of rice would soon be distributed to the people of Kanda, Talkot, Chabis Pathibhare village councils and Jaya Prithvi Municipality.

The NFC is distributing the rice that the Bangladesh government had donated to the victims of the 2015 earthquake.

An official at the NFC said the rice had remained unsold because it is more expensive than other rice types available locally.

Ganeshraj Upadhyay of the Rural Community Infrastructure Works Programme said the villagers from the food-insecure areas had participated in various local development projects, including constructions of school buildings, embankments and rural roads, as part of the FfW programme.

The projects were evaluated and approved by technical officials before starting rice distribution.