WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 169

Standard Project Report 2016
Country Context and WFP Objectives
Country Context
The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is a landlocked country located between China and India. With a
population of 26.5 million [1], and classified as a least-developed country [World Bank, 2016], Nepal is
characterised by slow economic growth, an unstable political climate, and low levels of human development. Nepal
ranks 145 out of 187 countries on the 2015 Human Development Index [2]. Over the past two decades, there have
been significant gains in the reduction of poverty—absolute poverty has declined from 42 percent in 1995 to 23.8
percent in 2015 [3]. Geography plays a critical role in determining the degree of food insecurity in Nepal. High
elevations of hills and mountains, remoteness, difficult terrain, poor road infrastructure and market access, and the
availability of quality agricultural land contribute to defining the livelihood options for the population. Poor dietary
diversity and inadequate knowledge of hygiene and sanitation has contributed to the prevalence of malnourished
communities in many parts of the country.
Nepal was ranked as ‘serious' on the 2015 Global Hunger Index [4]. A fifth of the population has inadequate food
consumption, and 38 percent of the population does not consume sufficient calories. Inevitably, this has led to over
30 percent of children aged 0-59 months being underweight, while stunting (low height for age) and wasting (low
weight for height) for children aged 0-59 months are both very high at 37.4 percent and 11.3 percent respectively
[5]. Anaemia remains a major health problem for almost half [6] of Nepal's children, with considerable differences in
their nutritional status based on gender, caste and ethnicity according to Nepal's Demographic Health Survey (DHS)
of 2011. The 2011 DHS also showed that 35 percent of women aged 15-49 years were anaemic. The prevalence of
anaemia varied across ecological zones mainly caused by the differences in dietary intake between the different
communities living there.
Nepal, State of (NP)
3
Country Programme - 200319