WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 659

Standard Project Report 2016
Cost Category
Indirect Support Costs
22,948
Total
350,771
Project Activities
WFP’s prevention of stunting programme in Mugu and Jumla districts was implemented through the blanket
supplementary feeding programme (BSFP) modality and lasted from June to August 2016. The programme entailed
the provision of a nutritious ration of 100 g of Super Cereal per person per day to pregnant and lactating women and
children aged 6-23 months and 24-59 months. In accordance with the Government’s request, the programme was
linked with WFP’s regular Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition (MCHN) programme—under the Government’s
Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme—in these two districts.
In order to link the IR-EMOP with the CMAM programme, the project activities were implemented in the same health
posts that were reached under the CMAM programme. Beneficiaries were therefore able to receive a package of
services, such as screening, outpatient therapeutic clinic services, follow-up visits and counselling, along with the
supplementary food rations. Although WFP’s corporate recommendations stipulate that in a stunting prevention
programme, children receive Super Cereal Plus and pregnant and lactating women receive Super Cereal, the
IR-EMOP provided only Super Cereal to all beneficiaries, upon the request of the Government, which also
contributed the Super Cereal to the project.
WFP planned to support 21,335 beneficiaries—4,793 pregnant and lactating women and 16,542 children between
6-59 months of age under the IR-EMOP. However, the planned number of beneficiaries and the achievement in
terms of people actually reached were both affected by certain factors. Following the first round of distributions in
June, the Ministry of Health decided to remove children between 24-59 months of age from the beneficiary list,
citing the reason that support was available from other programmes. As a result, only children aged 6-23 months
and pregnant and lactating women were provided with assistance for the remaining duration of the IR-EMOP.
In these remote areas, women require five to seven hours to walk to the health posts from their villages. The long
distance and time involved in travel contributed to discouraging some of the mothers to visit the health posts
regularly. Moreover, the severe drought led some affected households to migrate towards the lowland plains in
order to survive. The Government’s projected beneficiary figures therefore turned out to be higher than the actual
numbers who were still living in the two districts. However, WFP did not undertake a budget revision to adjust the
planning figures, in view of the short time frame of the IR-EMOP.
Furthermore, as a result of the Government’s decision to withdraw the 24-59 month age category from the
beneficiary list after June, children aged 24-59 months no longer received Super Cereal in the months of July and
August. Together these factors contributed to the lower than planned percentage of beneficiaries reached and the
lower-than-planned distribution of Super Cereal. The change in beneficiary numbers also led to reduced transport
costs during implementation. At the end of the IR-EMOP, WFP transferred a non-utilised balance of 64.4 mt of
Super Cereal to the country programme.
Through the IR-EMOP, WFP also provided training to government health personnel, particularly health workers at
both district and Village Development Committee levels, female community health volunteers, and
non-governmental organisation stakeholders. Six hundred and thirty-six participants were trained on counselling
related to Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN),
management of nutrition activities, and logistics and food handling. Led by nutrition focal points of the respective
District Health Offices and implementing partner staff, a pool of resource persons was developed at the district level
for the management of nutrition training. This resource group then organised a one-day refresher course on IYCF
and MIYCN for health workers and female community health volunteers at every Village Development Committee
level health post. These initiatives, and the support from Manahari Development Institute and Support for Poor
Producers of Nepal, helped government health workers and the female community health volunteers to effectively
manage the allocated food distribution schedule.
As part of nutrition counselling and education under the IR-EMOP, District Health Officers and WFP reached out to
14,250 beneficiaries, caregivers and other community members for counselling and behavior change
communication on the promotion of breastfeeding and complementary feeding through ongoing IYCF activities in
these two districts. These activities were carried out by female community health volunteers. WFP’s
non-governmental organisation partners—Manahari Development Institute and Support for Poor Producers of
Nepal—worked with field supervisors at the village level to encourage pregnant women to attend clinics to access
better antenatal care services. Further, according to the District Health Office, 84 percent of lactating mothers
Nepal, State of (NP)
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Single Country IR-EMOP - 200983