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Nepal

Impact of Current Shocks on Household Food Security in Nepal: Sixth Round of mVAM Household Livelihoods, Food Security and Vulnerability Survey (June 2022)

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The findings from the sixth round of the survey (June 2022) show that, nationally, food security conditions in Nepal have improved slightly compared to October 2021. However, the continued increase in food prices (reflecting, in part, increased fuel prices and a weaking rupee) are impacting households across the country. Stakeholders are advised to continue monitoring the situation, as the depleted resilience of households, coupled with an economic downturn or less than average harvest, may place increased pressure on already vulnerable households and tip some borderline households into food insecurity.

Measures aimed at economic recovery, income generation and smooth access to food remain critical for mitigating the most harmful effects to vulnerable households.

Food security improved slightly compared to October 2021, but approximately 3.86 million people (13.2%) in Nepal were not consuming an adequate diet in June 2022.

About 3 percent of households reported that they did not have enough food; among these 63.3 percent said that increasing prices of food was the main reason. Among all households, 78.2 percent listed increasing food prices as a main concern.

About 1 in 5 households (21.3%) reported using at least one food-based coping strategy (such as reducing portion sizes) in the previous week because they did not have enough food or money to buy food

About 33 percent of children aged 6-23 months did not meet the minimum recommended dietary diversity, lower than the results of October 2021 (40.4%)

Just more than one-third of households (36.4%) reported that their income had decreased in the previous three months, a finding similar to the previous round. Households depending on income from the tourism sector as well as daily wage labour were most likely to report income losses.

Prevalence of food insecurity was the highest among households with preexisting vulnerabilities, including poor households in the lowest wealth quintiles, households with low literacy levels and persons with disability, rural households and those reliant on the informal sector as their main source of income.