Addressing Causes of Malnutrition

Funded by the Department for International Development (DFID)

Since March 2018, PHASE has been delivering a DFID funded project in Mugu that has been committed to making significant, positive impact to a difficult to access district in high need.

Mugu has an extremely high number of children under 5 years old with global acute malnutrition. This project aims to sustainably address the immediate and underlying causes of malnutrition among 1,600 ‘left behind’ children in Mugu; integrating both health and nutrition into one project.

By 2021, PHASE will have changed the lives of 800 marginalised and vulnerable families (including young children). The project aims to improve the access these families have to a safe and nutritious food supply all year round, reducing the prevalence of child stunting and wasting in children under 5. Additionally, the access to food supply all year round supports the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons. This will be achieved by both improving the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women and family farmers, through productive resources and inputs, knowledge and access to markets. The project also aims to improve resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and strengthen capacity for adaption to climate change, extreme weather and other disasters.

The Story of Ram Sari Kami 

Ram Sara Kami shared with PHASE her successes in farming since participating in our project. In a project meeting, Ram Kami demonstrated how she had learnt that for years she was incorrectly throwing seeds on her land that often resulted in low yields. However, after receiving agricultural training she now sets up a nursery bed, integrates pest management and follows a crop calendar to produce different types of vegetables. Ram Kami is a president of one of our Farmers Groups and works to develop the practices of other farmers in her local community.