WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 658

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
Nepal, State of (NP)
263,280
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