Mugu

What is it like?

The district of Mugu borders the Humla district, in the northern region of the Karnali province. The majority of Mugu is rural, aside from the small town Gamgadhi in its centre. For roughly 55,000 people in the Mugu district, there is a total of 14 public health facilities available; 13 public health posts and one government hospital located in the urban centre of Mugu. Much of the eastern region of Mugu is isolated from any road networks, the only road passes through the centre and the western region.

The prevalence of food poverty in Mugu varies as villages split between averages of 46-61% to 37-46% of people living in food poverty.  Food poverty is an important indicator for livelihoods in Mugu, as across the wider region of Karnali 1,476,193 people rely on agriculture as a source of income (93% of the population). With up to 61% food poverty in some villages, the lack of local agricultural produce is a significant challenge and strain on the daily survival of people in Mugu. More importantly, the lack of food supply has problematic knock on effects that limits the achievement of children at school, as well as contributing to deteriorating health conditions for many communities in Mugu.

What do we do in Mugu?

A consequence of insufficient agricultural production is that many people in these communities suffer from malnutrition. PHASE has just completed an Innocent Foundation funded project tackling malnutrition. Through a range of agricultural support in farming practices, agricultural sustainability and farming resources, local farmers were supported to produce more nutritious produce to combat malnutrition. As of 2018, 1,117 farmers received vegetable production training and 1,168 women took part in ‘Golden 1,000 days of childhood nutrition training’ across Mugu. Overcoming problems associated with food poverty enables isolated communities to expand their livelihood opportunities, with hope to move beyond subsistence farming and participate in education whilst leading healthier lives. In April 2018, PHASE started a three-year project funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), which aims to tackle the causes of malnutrition in women and children.