WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by country | Page 460

Standard Project Report 2016
In 2016, WFP implemented community asset creation projects in seven districts in the mid- and far-western
development region (MFWR) providing food rations, cash-based transfers, or a combination of both to support
participating families.
A joint programme on rural women's economic empowerment (RWEE) in collaboration with United Nations Entity for
Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of
Agricultural Development, was implemented to improve food and nutrition security of rural women in Sindhuli,
Sarlahi and Rauthat districts. In 2017, the Saemaul Zero Hunger Communities (SZHC) livelihood improvement
programme funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), in Doti district, will use cash-based
transfers to assist beneficiaries. In 2016, WFP and partner Good Neighbors International completed the baseline
survey, technical assessment, market feasibility study, village development committee (VDC) planning exercise,
identification of assets for rehabilitation and social mobilisation.
Twenty-eight percent of the total households supported through FFA in 2016 were food-insecure families affected
by the winter drought of 2015-2016 and the import restrictions during the border blockade between Nepal and India
from September 2015 to February 2016. They were supported with funds from the Central Emergency Response
Fund (CERF).
WFP could reach just 63 percent of planned households in 2016 as many families had temporarily left the districts
as a result of the prevailing drought. Therefore, only 14 percent of food items could be distributed, and the
remaining food items were carried over to 2017.
Component 2: Education Support
Strategic Objective: Reduce undernutrition and break the intergenerational cycle of hunger (SO4)
Outcome: Increased equitable access to and utilisation of education
Activity: School meals in 10 districts (Accham, Bajhang, Baitadi, Bajura, Dailekh, Dadeldhura, Darchula, Doti,
Jajarkot and Rukum districts) and food assistance for the construction of school infrastructure in schools in
Bajhang district
WFP’s education support activities were implemented in ten districts in the mid- and far-western development
region. WFP school mid-day meals consisted of “haluwa” a porridge made from fortified corn-soya blend with sugar
and vegetable oil, provided 260,000 students from public primary schools and pre-primary schools, along with
complementary activities. WFP supported the Government with two pilot studies to gather evidence to work
toward a sustainable, nationally-owned school meals programme. One study aimed to discover the most feasible
modalities for school meals while the other introduced nutrition-centric early grade literacy to instil a knowledge of
nutrition, leading to long-term behaviour change.
Regarding the food items distributed under this component, leftover food items from 2015 were carried over to 2016
and were distributed accordingly, while additional food items arrived from McGovern Dole in 2016 and were part of
the planned distribution. This helps to explain why the percentage of food distributed is lower than planned (79
percent). Further,