Starvation in Muktikot Village — a remote Bajura village

In April 2022, a nutrition test covering 243 households — in Muktikot, a remote village in Bajura of Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality — showed that 61 children out of 200 were suffering from severe malnutrition, with 16 suffering from severe malnutrition.

100 out of 293 mothers in the village were also malnourished, with 29 of them having severe malnutrition.

Girls aged 10 to 19 were in the worst condition.

99 of the 192 girls tested were malnourished while 14 were suffering from severe malnutrition.

The result however is representative of a small sample size of the Bajura district and could get bigger if a detailed study is carried out.

Bajura, a part of Sudurpashchim province, is one of the poorest districts in Nepal with one of the poorest health indicators.

Central Bureau of Statistics (2020) data shows that the stunting rate is around 41% in the Sudurpashchim province.

This is happening despite the government's budget allocation for the ‘Integrated Multi-Regional Nutrition Plan’ to eliminate malnutrition by 2025 which has been in implementation since 2012.

Only a small proportion of the allocated budget however is spent on addressing the real problem with most of it spent on orientation, awareness, and training.

Poverty, state negligence, ineffective mobilization of malnutrition and poverty alleviation grants and budget, lack of essential physical infrastructure such as medical services and roads, and social problems like Chhaupadi are some of the factors that have contributed to the extremely poor health outcomes.

A detailed study covering most parts of Karnali and Sudurpashchim Province is another need of the hour as official health records show a relatively better state than the ground reality.