Hi-tech monitoring system set for expanded role

Rising at 6am every day, Basanta Acharya, a field monitor for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), treks for hours through remote Jumla, one of five districts within the Karnali zone – the largest, most inaccessible and least developed area of Nepal.

For more than three years, he has been the eyes and ears of WFP’s operations in Jumla, providing timely and accurate data from one of the most food-insecure areas of the country.

In addition to surveying community household food needs, he monitors WFP’s ongoing health, education and food-for-work programmes in the area.

“This is an opportunity to serve my community, as well as myself,” the former anthropology student said, walking along a dirt track in the mountainous district.

Home to 89,000 people, Jumla was once a buffer zone between security forces and Maoist rebels during a decade-long brutal conflict which took more than 12,000 lives. Conditions in Jumla are harsh, with an average life expectancy of about 50 years.

According to WFP, chronic malnutrition rates for children under five years of age run at more than 74 percent. In addition, the district suffers an acute lack of services, including access to basic health care, primary and secondary schools and communication services.

Lack of access and poor communication 

Lack of access and poor communication in Jumla have proven to be the greatest challenges for local inhabitants and the international humanitarian community trying to assist them.

Reachable only by air, goods need to be flown in from the nearest market or brought in by mule trail – a trip taking upwards of four days. Such conditions make Basanta’s daily interaction with his community all the more significant in terms of information flow.

“It’s tough here. No doubt about it,” Basanta said.

Launched in October 2002, the WFP field surveillance system in Nepal was originally designed to collect and analyse information on food security and monitor performance in conflict-affected areas across the Himalayan nation.

Covering 36 of the country’s 75 districts in Nepal’s mid-western, central eastern and far western regions, the 30-member unit, with one monitor covering two districts, provides essential information from those areas of the country deemed inaccessible.

Armed with a satellite phone and a personal digital assistant (PDA), every two months monitors update information on specific households in the area, asking more than 100 key questions, ranging from how many people live in a given household to how many people actually eat from the same pot.

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

WFP field monitor Basanta Acharya speaks with residents of Jumla about their current food needs

Additionally, they provide community assessments of the district - including current food market prices and employment opportunities – and information on issues such as irrigation and natural disasters that might affect agricultural livelihoods.

Monitors then enter data into a PDA and transmit it in real time by satellite phone to WFP’s country headquarters in the capital, Kathmandu, for analysis. This hi-tech link allows the UN food agency to keep on top of developments and implement its food interventions faster and more effectively, officials say.

Additionally, the monitors have experience of dealing with local government, Maoist former combatants and political groups.

Another strength of this surveillance system is that the field monitors come from the local communities themselves, placing them in a unique position to establish a broad network of key informants throughout the districts they cover.

Grass-roots information

The monitors are an exceptional source of grass-roots information on community needs, humanitarian workers say, and at this critical juncture in Nepal’s post-conflict recovery, could have a positive impact in a wider role.

“They [the monitors] are such a valuable asset; they should have a more expanded role. It’s almost a dream for WFP to keep them focused on food aid. However, this is an asset that can be shared by others," Richard Ragan, WFP country director in Kathmandu, said.

The monitors are in an excellent position to facilitate and provide information for the rest of the UN, he said.

And while WFP would manage the monitors with regard to food security, other agencies in the UN system will soon have the opportunity to have the monitors assess other issues such health and education through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Under the new framework, about 80 percent of the monitors’ time would be focused on broader peace and recovery themes, with about 20 percent on food security.

“I think this partnership makes perfect sense,” Paul Handley, OCHA head of office in Nepal, told IRIN, citing the benefits it would offer the broader humanitarian community. “This process and the information generated will then be jointly coordinated by WFP and OCHA,” he explained.

Analysis of data coming in would be made available in the form of bulletins and updates at critical times of the year, as well as thematic graphics and maps for targeting aid, programme performance reports, baseline profiles/data for emergency preparedness, early warning information and intervention reports.

This information would then be used to drive a better coordinated and more effective UN support process for post-conflict recovery in the country.

Details of the new setup are still under discussion, but back in Jumla, the fundamental component is already in place.

“This is my community and I enjoy playing a role in its development. I’m ready to do more,” Basanta said.

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see also
Food insecurity hits remote villages in west
Medicine and food shortages in Terai