Nepal - mVAM Monitoring

The eight districts of the mid– and far– western mountains of Nepal are some of the most food insecure areas in the country. Poverty and stunting are much higher there than in other areas and the national average. Recurrence of acute shocks – most recently the 2015/16 winter drought – further erodes resilience. To track seasonal changes over time in these two areas, WFP, in collaboration with the Nepal Food Security Monitoring System (NeKSAP) of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), launched a food security monitoring survey with a panel of 1,470 randomly selected households. A face-to-face baseline assessment was conducted in November 2016, and in June 2017 WFP completed the first follow-up survey through a dual mode data collection - combining face-to-face and remote phone-based surveys using the mVAM (mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping) approach. Call survey respondents are contacted through a call centre and asked to respond to a short series of questions on food consumption, dietary diversity, shocks faced and coping strategies used, livelihoods, and market conditions. The estimates produced are representative of mid-and far- western mountains of Nepal.