DHADING: Almost all the children of Chepang community in Mahabharat in Dhading are victims of malnutrition in the wake of acute food crisis.

For nine months every year people from the Chepang community reel under acute shortage of food.

The crops they grow hardly lasts three months, hence they are forced to survive on wild roots.

Nearly 18,000 Chepang people live on the southern part of the district and 90 per cent of them are landless. Those 10 per cent from the community who are said to be comparatively well off also reel under food crisis as what they produce hardly lasts six months.

Tilak Chepang of Nepal Chepang Association said that food grains they produce can only sustain them for six months. “Steep land, high hills, lack of irrigation are some of the reasons we cannot produce enough food for ourselves,” he said. “And there has been rapid growth of population, which is adding to our food insecurity woes,” he added, in an indication that family planning is something the Chepangs are completely unaware of.

A monitoring carried out in Pida and Benighat VDCs had found that almost all the children there were underweight. Sixteen out of 20 Chepang children whose weights were measured were underweight for their age in Benighat VDC-7. Similarly, eight out of 10 children in Benighat VDC-9 were found to be malnourished.

Indraman Shakya, health programme officer of Shanti Nepal, said as many as 16 children were referred to nutrition rehabilitation center, Lalitpur, for treatment.

Each family of the malnourished children were also provided with sarbottam pitho, baby formula, free of cost.