‘Fish processors should know about nutrition’

Principal Secretary in the Department of Nutrition, HIV and Aids Edith Mkawa has said it is imperative for women fish processors to know fish’s nutritional content.

Mkawa was speaking in Zomba on Thursday when she visited the Kachulu Women Fish Processing Centre at Lake Chilwa.

The women are engaged in solar fish drying, smoking and trading courtesy of World Fish Centre (WFC) under the Lake Chilwa Basin Climate Change Adaptation Programme.

WFC is also supporting the women processors in Zomba, Machinga and Phalombe to implement fish value addition activities focusing on fish quality, hygiene and packaging.

Said Mkawa: “There is high nutritional content in fish which is very important to the human body. You should know that for people to grow healthier, they need proteins in their bodies. I want to ask those working with these women to give them information on the importance of fish.”

She, however, added that what the women are doing ensures a stable supply of health products which in turn result in their stable incomes.

WFC director Dr Daniel Jamu said his office has also engaged Chancellor College’s department of human ecology in assisting the women by making recipes from fish.

 “We are looking at diversifying the products which are processed here so that they should be accessible to various age groups in Malawi. Mainly we want to be producing fish powders which are highly nutritious and can be incorporated in various food items such as sausages, doughnuts, among others suitable for diets of even under-five children,” he said.