Malabo Commitment-Based interventions Help to End Malnutrition in Children in Malawi

By Eunice Ndlovu

In 2015, a group of women at Kazondo village Traditional Authority Msamala in Balaka, Malawi, noticed malnutrition among their underweight children. According to Elizabeth Wahabi, Chairperson of the Umodzi club, the women reported to their village headman the challenge, who called for a meeting to discuss the issues.

Wahabi, with fellow women, formed the Umodzi club, where 43 women and two men became members of the group. "We started as a food club where we collected 100 kwacha from each member monthly; after every three months, we could come together and cook different dishes using local food. Community workers for the area helped us prepare nutritious foods using beans, Soya, pigeon peas and groundnuts", recalled Wahabi.

The Chairperson said soon, children's nutrition status started to change for the better. After noticing the women's commitment, agriculture officers from Mpilisi Agriculture Extension Planning Area (EPA) contacted the group to be part of the Sustainable Agriculture Productivity Programme (SAPP). Members of the Umodzi club received 75 goats that were shared among 15 members. This was a pass-on program to empower them with animals to increase their social, economic livelihood." As a group, we have managed to pass on goats to every member, and we are happy that every household has goats. Since these goats came, we have managed to pay school fees for the children, and the most important outcome is that we have manure for our crops," Said Wahabi

Wahabi narrated that with the coming of SAPP, the whole village became food secure, nutrition levels of their children never dwindled again. 'Our children are now nourished because our households have food. SAPP has helped us to maintain household food security using manure that we get from the goats to apply to our gardens. We are also grateful to the Ministry of Agriculture.' She adds.

Achieving the nutrition status of children in community areas of the country has been one of the pillars that the Sustainable Agriculture Productivity Program (SAPP) has set out to achieve under the Malabo declaration to ensure that the sector contributes to agriculture-led livelihood growth. Upile Muhariwa, the Communications Specialist for SAPP, also CCARDESA ICKM Foca point person for Malawi,  says the project has achieved over 50 per cent of the nutrition targets in districts that have implemented the program for the past 11 years.

She further highlighted that the SAPP project had worked hard to deliver on the Malabo declaration committees, ensuring that the pursuit of agriculture-led growth as the primary strategy to achieve targets on food and nutrition is achieved at all costs

She said the use of partnerships and alliances, including farmer's groups and civil society, had developed farmers' resilience to food insecurity and prosperity in financial sustainability at the household level.

The project has facilitated over 19000 integrated household farming groups across the country where farmers are practising animal husbandry as one way of promoting farming.

The author is a Senior Reporter at Malawi Broadcasting Corporation