Standard Project Report 2016
Project Objectives and Results
Project Objectives
The Karnali region of far-western Nepal has always had high levels of food insecurity. The levels of stunting( 64 percent), underweight( 45 percent) and wasting( nine percent) for children aged 24-59 months in this region are among the highest in the country. Government surveys on Infant and Young Child Feeding( IYCF) conducted in the Karnali region in 2014 showed that 28.8 percent of households in this region had a minimum dietary diversity, and 20.1 percent had a minimum acceptable diet— both of these figures were significantly below national averages( Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, Karnali, 2014). The remote and mountainous Mugu and Jumla districts of Karnali are particularly vulnerable, with limited transport and market facilities. The 2015 Health Information Management System( HMIS) reports for both of these districts showed that higher rates of acute malnutrition tended to trigger higher child mortality rates in the absence of immediate interventions to prevent and treat acute malnutrition.
In this context, WFP has implemented a stunting prevention programme to support the Government of Nepal ' s efforts to address the high prevalence of chronic undernutrition among children aged 6-23 months and pregnant and lactating women in Mugu and Jumla. The stunting prevention programme is managed through the Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition( MCHN) component of WFP ' s country programme in Nepal. Under the MCHN programme, specialised nutritious food is supplied by the Government and provided to children and pregnant and lactating women on a monthly basis.
The food security situation in Karnali further deteriorated in 2016. On the one hand, inadequate monsoon rains in 2015 and 2016 caused the farming communities of the region to lose their harvests for two consecutive seasons. In addition, the economic blockade along the India-Nepal border from September 2015 to February 2016 resulted in severe shortages of fuel and other goods for many months and magnified the impact of the drought on household food security and income. WFP utilised Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping methodology to regularly monitor districts through the national food security monitoring network, and in early 2016, WFP detected an increase in household food insecurity in the Karnali region. Drawing on these findings, the Government requested WFP to provide nutrition support to the drought-affected households, in linkage with the regular MCHN programme in Mugu and Jumla districts. Subsequently, WFP launched the IR-EMOP for a three-month period from June to August 2016.
Although an emergency situation typically warrants other types of nutrition interventions, WFP continued with the stunting prevention intervention in the framework of its regular MCHN programme, targeting pregnant and lactating women and children aged 6-23 and 24-59 months in 54 Village Development Committees in Mugu and Jumla districts. The rationale was to provide immediate assistance to drought-affected households but at the same time to also ensure uninterrupted support to the Government’ s stunting prevention programme in the target areas. Thus, it was agreed that WFP’ s IR-EMOP would also implement a stunting prevention programme, in line with the existing MCHN programme and the longer-term objective of reducing prevalence of stunting among children aged 6-59 months. The reason that WFP’ s stunting prevention programme included children aged 24-59 months in the stunting prevention programme( in addition to children aged 6-23 months) was that there was a high level of food insecurity in the target areas as a result of the prolonged drought and a shortage of food in the region.
The Nepal Government Ministry of Health provided an in-kind contribution of 192 mt of Super Cereal and transported the food to extended delivery points, while WFP contributed the associated costs for delivery of the food to health posts and subsequent distribution to the beneficiaries. WFP also supported training on Infant and Young Child Feeding practices for health workers at the district level to facilitate the implementation of the programme. The IR-EMOP aimed to save lives and protect livelihoods of the people affected by the drought in Mugu and Jumla districts, in line with WFP’ s Strategic Objective 1.
Approved Budget for Project Duration( USD)
Cost Category
Direct Support Costs 64,543
Food and Related Costs 263,280
Nepal, State of( NP) 17 Single Country IR-EMOP- 200983