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Despite these eff orts by the WFP, in Nepal the assump� on of the
detrimental eff ects of food assistance seem to prevail, although � ll today
there is a lack of empirically grounded studies that would support or dismiss
such cri� que by analyzing the impacts of food assistance on recipients, and
the ways it infl uences their livelihoods and longer term food security.
The aim of this ar� cle is thus to contribute to fi ll this gap through an
empirically grounded study on the impacts of food-for-work (FFW) as
distributed by the United Na� ons World Food Programme (WFP) in the
remote Mugu district of mid-western Nepal. Its objec� ve is to assess FFW’s
posi� ve and nega� ve impacts on recipients’ livelihoods and their ability to
deal with future shocks. The fi ndings presented in this ar� cle are the result
of a two months long fi eld research in Mugu. The research was conducted
between June and August 2009.
Sec� on 2, introduces the theore� cal background on which food security
and food assistance was based, including the en� tlements framework,
research done on vulnerability to food security, and on aid-dependency.
Sec� on 3 presents the fi ndings and elaborates on factors that lead to
people’s vulnerability to food insecurity, and the ways they cope with the
permanent food crisis. sec� on 4 outlines some observa� ons on the impact
of FFW on this context. The ar� cle concludes by presen� ng some general
sugges� ons for policymakers and food aid agencies.
Food Insecurity and Food Assistance
Assessing Food Insecurity
Food security is defi ned as “a situa� on that exists when all people, at
all � mes, have physical, social and economic access to suffi cient, safe and
nutri� ous food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for
an ac� ve and healthy life” (FAO 2002: 49). Accordingly, food insecurity is
characterised as the lack of access to food (FAO 2009; Sen 1981). Amartya
Sen (1981, 1984, 1995, 1999) explained food insecurity as being a result of
social inequali� es and failing en� tlements. He defi nes en� tlements as
“the set of alterna� ve commodity bundles that a person can command in
a society using the totality of rights and opportuni� es that he or she faces”
(Sen 1984: 497).
En� tlement sets can be acquired through the transforma� on of a person’s
endowments, the ini� al ownership of assets and resources (Sen 1981). Sen
dis� nguished four types of en� tlements: produc� on based (growing food),
trade based (buying or trading for food), own-labour based (working for
food) and inheritance or transfer based (being given food by others, including
food aid as “relief”-en� tlement) en� tlements (Devereux 2001: 246). If the
full range of a person’s en� tlements does not provide them with adequate
food (e.g. when dras� c food price increases disable people from purchasing
food which corresponds to a decline in their trade en� tlement) they face
starva� on. Hunger is thus not (always and only) caused by a decline in food
availability but a result of a food en� tlement decline.
Changing paradigms of aid eff ec� veness in Nepal 139