Omar Havana

Photographer

omarhavana.com

Portfolio NGO Food Security and Agriculture

Location: Paris, France

Nationality: Spanish

Biography: Omar Havana, 1975 Granada, Spain. Spanish Freelance Photojournalist. Based in Paris, France. Previously based in Asia. ( Nepal 2014-2015 and Cambodia 2008 - 2014 ; 2015-2017) Omar has worked as a professional photojournalist since 2005, and since... read on

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THNAUT SVAY, CAMBODIA - DECEMBER 06: Meng Neang (40) feeds pigs inside a pigsty set up outside her home on December 06, 2015 in Thnaut Svay Village, Cambodia. Photo: © Omar Havana for Heifer International

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LALITLPUR, NEPAL - FEBRUARY 19: Tibetan refugees prepare traditional tea during the celebrations of the New Tibetan Year on February 19, 2015 in Lalitpur, Nepal. More than 20,000 Tibetans currently reside in Nepal, many of whom have been there since the exile of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959. Before 2008, as many as 2,000 Tibetans were still arriving in Nepal each year, although that number dropped to less than 200 per year by 2013, trekking across Himalayan mountain passes to reach Nepal. Photo: © Omar Havana

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SAPA, VIETNAM - APRIL 15: A Hmong couple cook inside their home in a remote village near Sapa, Vietnam on April 15, 2014. Various ethnic minorities - of which Hmong people are the majority - inhabit the area around Sapa, constituting more than 80% of the region's population. Migrating from China in the 18th century, the Hmong people settled in Vietnam’s upland, especially in the northwest. While traditionally horticulturalists who practiced shifting agriculture, many Hmong households today live on sedentary subsistence agriculture, based largely on wet rice paddies, dry rice patches, and maize cultivation. Photo: © Omar Havana

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SAPA, VIETNAM. APRIL 16: A group of Hmong children has dinner inside their home in a remote village near Sapa, Vietnam on April 16, 2014. Various ethnic minorities - of which Hmong people are the majority - inhabit the area around Sapa, constituting more than 80% of the region's population. Migrating from China in the 18th century, the Hmong people settled in Vietnam’s upland, especially in the northwest. While traditionally horticulturalists who practiced shifting agriculture, many Hmong households today live on sedentary subsistence agriculture, based largely on wet rice paddies, dry rice patches, and maize cultivation. Photo: © Omar Havana

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SAPA, VIETNAM - APRIL 15: A group of Hmong women washes vegetables collected from their farm to prepare dinner in their home on April 15, 2014 in Sapa, Vietnam. Considered by the French as the “Summer Capital of Northern Vietnam” during the early 20th century, Sapa’s population consists of 80% minorities, with the Hmong people the largest one. Over the past 10 years, tourism has increased ten-fold, and Sapa is expected to welcome 1.5 million tourists in 2014, most of which are Vietnamese people seeking relaxation and an escape from the hotter climates of the lowlands, and leaving an income of VND 2,550 billion in 2013. With food shortages still common for the minorities between April and October and the decreasing availability of arable land, many Hmong women leave their homes for days to sell traditional clothing and textiles in the streets of Sapa and to work as trekking guides for tourists. Photo: © Omar Havana

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SUNAKOTHI, NEPAL - JANUARY 28: A group of mothers and children have lunch inside the dining hall of the Nepal Youth Foundation’s Nutritional Rehabilitation Home on January 28, 2015 in Sunakothi, Nepal. During mealtimes, mothers sit with their children as part of the rehabilitation program where they are taught to feed their children nutritious and balanced meals based on locally-available food they will have access to in their own community. Photo: © Omar Havana for The Guardian

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ITAHARI, NEPAL - February 25, 2015: Balram Chaudhary, 18 years old, bathes from one of the water taps installed by the organization Lumanti in the Pragatitol neighborhood on the outskirts of Itahari, Nepal on February 25, 2015. Despite Nepal’s extensive natural resources, access to clean and affordable water remains a problem throughout the country. For many people in the more remote mountains and hills, water sources are often far away and not necessarily safe, and the simple act of fetching water can drain a community’s human resources. Photo: © Omar Havana / WaterAid Nepal

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BIRATNAGAR, NEPAL - JULY 30: A food vendor carries a big pot filled with tomatoes to a local market on July 30, 2015 in Biratnagar, Nepal. Over 80% of the work market in Nepal comprises of non-registered businesses, such as the sellers in this market, causing huge damages to the Nepali economy. Photo: © Omar Havana for the International Labour Organization

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KATHMANDU, NEPAL - FEBRUARY 12: Meena Khatri, 24 years old, holds her 16-days-old son Bishu at the International Friendship Children’s Hospital while he is receiving medical treatment for a skin infection on his back on February 12, 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Newborn babies can be at risk of developing infections due to weak immune systems that are vulnerable to viruses and bacterias. From 1996 to 2006, Nepal reduced by close to 50% its maternal mortality rate, going from 539 deaths in 100,000 to 281, making Nepal a success story. However, each year, 57,000 under-five children still lose their lives, with 54% of those cases occurring within the first month after birth. In 2013, only 50% of births were attended by skilled birth attendants. Several issues remain to be addressed with regards to maternal and newborn health, including tackling inequalities, improving access to care in remote areas, improving quality of care, increasing the use of family planning methods, and reducing malnutrition. Photo: © Omar Havana for UNICEF ROSA

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BATASE, NEPAL - February 28, 2015: Members of a family husk corn in front of their house in Batase, Nepal on February 28, 2015. With the help of local NGOs, all of the households in Batase now have access to running water without having to fetch water from far-away springs. This new access to water has enabled the community to grow more vegetables, both because of the water itself, which they can use for irrigation purposes, but also because they now have more time to dedicate to farming and other such activities. Photo: © Omar Havana for WaterAid Nepal

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BHEDIARI, NEPAL - JUNE 01: A woman husks rice on June 01, 2019 in Bhediari, Nepal. Photo: © Omar Havana for VSO International

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BATASE, NEPAL - February 28, 2015: Lali Maya Magar, 56 years old, digs terraces with a pick to plant rice in Batase, Nepal on February 28, 2015. In Batase, a remote village in the mountains of Nepal’s Udayapur district, home to an indigenous Magar community, almost all of the working-age men have migrated to the Middle East for jobs, leaving women to run the village. Photo: © Omar Havana for WaterAid Nepal

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SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA - OCTOBER 03: A young scavenger carries some potatoes that he found in the midst of rubbish inside the Anlong Pi landfill on October 03, 2014 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Over 300 people work in the Anlong Pi landfill, where tons of rubbish are being thrown every day from the nearest city of Siem Reap, home to the world-famous Angkor Wat, visited by millions of tourists every year. Here, they look day and night for recyclable material that they can sell to local middlemen who pay anywhere from a few cents to a few dollars, depending on the type of material collected, per kilogram collected. The inhabitants of Anlong Pi need to collect around four kilograms of plastic, paper or metal in order to make a dollar per day. The enormous accumulation of junk over the last years has doubled the capacity of the landfill, producing new chemical and biological reactions between organic and inorganic compounds. The resulting toxic products are washed by rainwater, contaminating soil and groundwater, or are emitted into the atmosphere. Photo: © Omar Havana

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ITAHARI, NEPAL - February 25, 2015: Akashbati Sardar, 55 years old, fills a bucket with water from a well-installed by the Lumanti organization in Jana Sewa Tol neighborhood on the outskirts of Itahari, Nepal on February 25, 2015. Despite Nepal’s extensive natural resources, access to clean and affordable water remains a problem throughout the country. For many people in the more remote mountains and hills, water sources are often far away and not necessarily safe, and the simple act of fetching water can drain a community’s human resources. Photo: © Omar Havana for WaterAid Nepal

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DHUWAKOT, NEPAL - JULY 17: A farmer works in a rice paddy at the epicenter of the earthquake near Ghorka Bazaar on July 17, 2015 in Dhuwakot, Nepal. Photo: © Omar Havana for International Medical Corps

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TRANG PROVINCE, VIETNAM - DECEMBER 02: Le Thi Long (44) feeds fish in a pond outside her home on December 02, 2015 in Ta Lot C Village, Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. Photo: © Omar Havana for Heifer International

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SAPA, VIETNAM - APRIL 15: A Hmong woman tends to her family’s vegetable farm in front of her home in one of the mountain villages on April 15, 2014 in Sapa, Vietnam. Considered by the French as the “Summer Capital of Northern Vietnam” during the early 20th century, Sapa’s population consists of 80% minorities, with the Hmong people the largest one. Over the past 10 years, tourism has increased ten-fold, and Sapa is expected to welcome 1.5 million tourists in 2014, most of which are Vietnamese people seeking relaxation and an escape from the hotter climates of the lowlands, and leaving an income of VND 2,550 billion in 2013. With food shortages still common for the minorities between April and October and the decreasing availability of arable land, many Hmong women leave their homes for days to sell traditional clothing and textiles in the streets of Sapa and to work as trekking guides for tourists. Photo: © Omar Havana

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TRANG PROVINCE, VIETNAM - DECEMBER 02: Tran Thi Tham (56) feeds her chickens outside her home on December 02, 2015 in Ray Mop Village, Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. Photo: © Omar Havana for Heifer International

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BATASE, NEPAL - FEBRUARY 28: A woman holds recently-harvested potatoes in a remote village in the hills of Nepal on February 28, 2015 in Batase, Nepal. With the help of local NGOs, all of the households in Batase now have access to running water without having to fetch water from far-away springs. This new access to water has enabled the community to grow more vegetables, both because of the water itself, which they can use for irrigation purposes, but also because they now have more time to dedicate to farming and other such activities. Photo: © Omar Havana for WaterAid Nepal

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TRANG PROVINCE, VIETNAM - DECEMBER 02: Le Thi Long (44) smiles while picking water chestnuts (Eleocharis Dulcis) that she cultivates in a field outside her home on December 02, 2015 in Ta Lot C Village, Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. Photo: © Omar Havana for Heifer International

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RAUTA KHANITAR, NEPAL - March 01, 2015: A woman tends to her cabbage patch in Rauta Khanitar, Nepal on March 01, 2015. Since NEWAH has provided water to the community, residents have seen their crops grow faster and are now growing more varied vegetables, which is contributing to improving the health of this community. Despite Nepal’s extensive natural resources, access to clean and affordable water remains a problem throughout the country. For many people in the more remote mountains and hills, water sources are often far away and not necessarily safe, and the simple act of fetching water can drain a community’s human resources. Photo: © Omar Havana for WaterAid Nepal

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NUBRI VALLEY, NEPAL - July 18: A farmer works in rice paddies in the Nubri Valley on July 18, 2015 in the Nubri Valley, Nepal. Photo: © Omar Havana for International Medical Corps

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BELDANGI, NEPAL - MARCH 14: Bhagimaya Neupane, 84 years old, cleans beans in front of her house in the Beldangi 2 refugee camp on March 14, 2015 in Beldangi, Nepal. Bhagimaya arrived 23 years ago in the camp. More than 22,000 Bhutanese refugees still reside in the refugee camps set up in Nepal in the 1990s, after hundreds of thousands of Bhutanese fled the country following a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Bhutanese Government against the country's ethnic Nepali population. After more than 20 years in Nepal, over 90% of the refugees have been successfully resettled in third countries, thanks to programs by UNHCR and IOM. Those remaining the camps are supported by several organizations that undertake a wide variety of projects. Helped by remittances sent back to Nepal by families already resettled in other countries, the refugees still in the camps have set up their own small businesses in the camps and the roads near them, roads which are also replete with Nepali-owned businesses who benefit directly from the refugees that are still waiting in Nepal to be resettled in third countries. Photo: © Omar Havana / Getty Images

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TRA VINH PROVINCE, VIETNAM - DECEMBER 01: Nguyen Thi Tang (47) poses for a photo after cutting a dragon fruit from a dragon fruit plant in a field where the family grows fruit outside their home on December 01, 2015 in Phu Hung 1 Village, Tra Vinh Province, Vietnam. Photo: © Omar Havana for Heifer International

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BHAKTAPUR, NEPAL SEPTEMBER 23: A woman cleans grains in front of a Chinese Red Cross tent in one of the internally displaced camps set up for people affected by the earthquake on September 23, 2015 in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Approximately 60,000 people are still living in over 100 official displacement camps throughout the affected districts. Living conditions in the camps are dire, with limited or non-existent access to sanitation services, clean water and food, and health services. Photo: © Omar Havana

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JANAKPUR, NEPAL - JULY 24: A young Maithil woman cooks lunch at the entrance to her home in a remote village while covering her face from the presence of strangers as tradition dictates on July 24, 2015 near Janakpur, Nepal. Traditionally, women from the Maithil community have almost never worked in official positions or in the formal economy being economic dependants in their families - first as daughters, then as wives and mothers, and often as widows. Their labor is in service to their husbands' families. But for years, Maithili women have been making strides to gain independence, helped by projects aimed at providing them with income-earning opportunities outside the home. Photo: © Omar Havana

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BELDANGI, NEPAL - MARCH 13: A worker carries a sac filled with rice inside one of the World Food Programme rice storage wards in the Beldangi 2 refugee camp on March 13, 2015 in Beldangi, Nepal. More than 22,000 Bhutanese refugees still reside in the refugee camps set up in Nepal in the 1990s, after hundreds of thousands of Bhutanese fled the country following a campaign of ethnic cleansing by the Bhutanese Government against the country's ethnic Nepali population. After more than 20 years in Nepal, over 90% of the refugees have been successfully resettled in third countries, thanks to programs by UNHCR and IOM. Those remaining the camps are supported by several organizations that undertake a wide variety of projects. Helped by remittances sent back to Nepal by families already resettled in other countries, the refugees still in the camps have set up their own small businesses in the camps and the roads near them, roads which are also replete with Nepali-owned businesses who benefit directly from the refugees that are still waiting in Nepal to be resettled in third countries. Photo: © Omar Havana / Getty Images

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KATHMANDU, NEPAL - APRIL 28: Residents line up for water from a truck near Basantapur Durbar Square on April 28, 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal. A major 7.8 earthquake hit Kathmandu mid-day on Saturday and was followed by multiple aftershocks that triggered avalanches on Mt. Everest that buried mountain climbers in their base camps. Many houses, buildings, and temples in the capital were destroyed during the earthquake, leaving thousands dead or trapped under the debris as emergency rescue workers attempt to clear debris and find survivors. Regular aftershocks have hampered recovery missions as locals, officials and aid workers attempt to recover bodies from the rubble. Photo: © Omar Havana / Getty Images

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KATHMANDU, NEPAL - APRIL 27: Volunteers give out packages of instant noodles to residents living in an evacuation area set up by the authorities in Tundhikel park on April 27, 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal. A major 7.8 earthquake hit Kathmandu mid-day on Saturday, and was followed by multiple aftershocks that triggered avalanches on Mt. Everest that buried mountain climbers in their base camps. Many houses, buildings and temples in the capital were destroyed during the earthquake, leaving over 3000 dead and many more trapped under the debris as emergency rescue workers attempt to clear debris and find survivors. Photo: © Omar Havana / Getty Images

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SUNAKOTHI, NEPAL - JANUARY 28: A young girl has lunch inside the dining hall of the Nepal Youth Foundation’s Nutritional Rehabilitation Home on January 28, 2015 in Sunakothi, Nepal. As part of the rehabilitation program, children are provided with nutritious and balanced meals throughout the day, based on their individual needs and using locally available foods. Photo: © Omar Havana for The Guardian

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BATASE, NEPAL - February 27, 2015: Nanda Kumari Magar, 40 years old, drinks water from one of the taps installed by the NEWAH organization in Batase, Nepal on February 27, 2015. Despite Nepal’s extensive natural resources, access to clean and affordable water remains a problem throughout the country. For many people in the more remote mountains and hills, water sources are often far away and not necessarily safe, and the simple act of fetching water can drain a community’s human resources. Photo: © Omar Havana for WaterAid Nepal

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PHU QUE, VIETNAM - DECEMBER 03: Thatch Inl (61) pets a calf in his farm built outside his house on December 03, 2015 in Phu Que Village, Soc Trang Province, Vietnam. Photo: © Omar Havana for Heifer International

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SVAY THOM, CAMBODIA - DECEMBER 05: Ou Kongkea (29) (left) and her husband Loek Bunthoeun (28) (right) pose for a photo holding piglets with their children, Vat Somavotey (5) (left) and Vat Samady (7) (right), in a vegetable farm planted outside their home on December 05, 2015 in Svay Thom, Cambodia. Photo: © Omar Havana for Heifer International

Public Story

Portfolio NGO Food Security and Agriculture

Credits: omar havana

Updated: 01/27/21

Archived as: Agriculture, Animals, Asia, Cambodia, Documentary, Editorial, Environment, Essays, Europe Photographer, Food, France Photographer, Heifer International, Human Rights, Humanitarian Photography, Hunger, ILO, International Labour Organization, International Medical Corps, Media, Nepal, NGO, NGO Photographer, Paris Photographer, Photography, Photojournalism, Portfolio, Poverty, South Asia, South East Asia, Still life, UNICEF, Vietnam, VSO International, Water, Water Aid

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