District Training Programmes
(1993 — 2000)

Back­ground

In 1993, NPCS’s parent organ­i­sa­tion United Mission to Nepal (UMN) signed a ground-break­ing agree­ment with the government’s Min­istry of Health to begin Nepal’s first dis­trict-level nutri­tion programmes.

The agree­ment created a unique part­ner­ship between UMN and gov­ern­ment health workers. UMN staff lived and worked in each dis­trict to support public health staff running activ­i­ties to reduce mal­nu­tri­tion in under‑5 chil­dren and their mothers.

The goal was to increase the aware­ness and nutri­tion knowl­edge of health staff, and to see an improve­ment in nutri­tion prac­tices in the communities.

The pro­grammes took place in four mid-western districts:

• Jajarkot (1993 — 1996)
• Salyan (1995 — 1999)
• Rukum (1996 — 1999)
• Dailekh (1997 — 2000)

Pro­gramme outcomes

Dra­matic improve­ments in the body weights and nutri­tion status of women in the pro­gramme districts

Vast major­ity of babies born during the pro­grammes were fed colostrum, the highly ben­e­fi­cial first breastmilk

Fam­i­lies were sup­ported to help their mal­nour­ished chil­dren recover within their own homes

Increased numbers of kitchen gardens, and women and chil­dren eating green leafy vegetables

Suc­cess­fully dis­trib­uted infor­ma­tion about the value of local foods and how to eat a nutri­tious diet

“It is indeed praise­wor­thy that the UMN Nutri­tion Pro­gramme is reach­ing out to remote dis­tricts like Dailekh where the health and overall well-being of the com­mu­ni­ties are in a mis­er­able state.  The effort made by the Dis­trict Train­ing Project in such a short period of time and with few staff is com­mend­able.” Pro­gramme Eval­u­a­tion Report, 2000.