Government urges CSOs to spearhead alleviation of malnutrition

Government has urged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Balaka to work collectively in spearheading the alleviation of malnutrition among pregnant women, lactating mothers, children under five children and adolescent girls.

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Principal Nutrition HIV/AIDS Officer (PNHAO) from the Department of Nutrition in the Ministry of Health, Clara Mvula, made the call Tuesday in Balaka when ‘We Effect’ in partnership with Self Help Africa (SHA) presented the Nourishing Futures: Empowering Malawi’s CSOs for Sustainable Nutrition project to the District Executive Committee (DEC)

According to Mvula, women and children under five from rural communities are more vulnerable to issues of malnutrition because they have limited access to fortified nutritious food, which contains iodine, zinc and vitamin A, among others.

“Malawi is still among the developing countries in Africa whose households are grappling with issues of access to a balanced diet, particularly for pregnant and lactating women and underage children.

“Recent studies have shown that out of general population in Malawi, 36 percent of under five children are retarded, 12.5 are under weight and 15.6 percent of adolescent girls are malnourished,” she said.

“Hence, we are calling for CSOs in Balaka to jointly complement the government’s effort by partnering with sectors like Health, Agriculture, Education and Trade to build strong awareness and capacity among the community members on issues of nutrition,” added Mvula.

Balaka District CSOs Chairperson, Helix Chimutu hailed the project saying it will act as a game changer for other nutrition-related interventions such as school feeding programmes which are already on the ground.

He assured the communities that CSO network will work collectively with all relevant authorities, including the media, to successfully disseminate the messages that highlight benefits of consuming a balanced diet and how households would access it using local resources.

The project will be implemented through joint effort from ‘We Effect’, Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM), Catholic Development Commission of Malawi (CADECOM) among others with funding from European Union (EU) and it will targets over 9,000 beneficiaries from Traditional Authority Amidu and Sub TA Matola starting from March 2025 to August 2029.