Abstract
Increasing investment in ‘healing’ resorts and medicinal herb production in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal is having a significant impact on agricultural practices and resource management. The international interest has propelled Nepal into the global market for tourists and through a nexus of national and international agents it is marketing its herbs to be used for medicines, perfumes and aphrodisiacs. In this context, this seminar will analyse, with the help of two case studies, the influence of global players in changing land and agriculture policies, so that they enable international investment and facilitate value adding. The impact of these policies on food security for marginalised people is also considered. It is argued that these policy changes under international pressure have made Nepal food insecure and its people vulnerable to international food politics.

Bio
Jagannath did his PhD at ANU in 1995 and since then has been conducting research and providing consultancy services in Nepal. His major interest is analysing the impact of agrarian change on resource management and he has published extensively in this area.