(P17-021-23) Looking Back to Move Forward – Impact of Nutrition Intervention in Earthquake Affected District

Objectives: The project aimed to improving food and nutrition security of targeted households and it was based on the following two Theory of Changes: i) if people are mobilized through cash/ food transfer, it will not only improve their income/ food security status but also ensure the critical infrastructures vital for sustainable agriculture and livelihoods development; and, ii) if direct support on home gardening, agriculture promotion and nutrition practices is provided in earthquake hit agrarian society like Nepal, it will have immediate positive impacts on availability and consumption of diverse food items and as well as improve household income at some extent.

Methods: WFP + WHH carried out the baseline and end-line studies against certain indicators to measure the progress, and the parameters of these processes are discussed below.

Mix method survey approach was followed as both quantitative a qualitative data collection techniques were used for collecting the primary data.

1,089 HHs were interviewed for quantitative information and 15 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) + 20 Key Intformant Interview (KII) were conducted for qualitative data.

Results: The results show that the average HDDS and FSC are not very much improved in comparison to the baseline, although the part of lower HDDS is reduced significantly. Both baseline and endline data were taken in post-earthquake context and since there are improvements at most of the above analyzed indicators, this is safe to conclude that socio-economic situation is moving toward pre-disaster situation after the intervention. The average “household dietary diversity score” was increased from 4.9 to 5.16. The reduced Coping Strategy Index (rCSI) was reduced from 2.6 to 0.68.

Conclusions: It is safe to conclude that, an intervention is found highly effective, efficient and sustainable when it incorporates and brings synergy between availability (production), accessibility (income) and utilization (behavior) of the food system. In an agrarian society like Nepal where majority of households are small-holder farmers, home gardening and farming enhancement could be the appropriate strategy in an emergency and post-crisis context for improving food and nutrition security and strengthening livelihoods.

Funding Sources: Welthungerhilfe/ UNWFP