Graça Machel challenges nutrition players on action

Graça Machel Trust founder and chairperson Graça Machel has urged stakeholders in the country’s nutrition sector to consider migrating from mere advocates to becoming action-oriented.

Machel was speaking yesterday in Lilongwe during a high-level dialogue on the state of malnutrition in Malawi themed Time for Accelerated Action.

Addressing Civil Society Organisation for Nutrition Alliance (Csona) members from various districts, she said efforts to  address malnutrition in the region will remain futile unless if matched by action.

Said Machel: “We need to check whether what we are implementing is what we initially budgeted for, and whether we are spending the funds we have in the first place.”

According to Machel, challenges will always be there until communities are empowered to address malnutrition.

“For too long we have been doing advocacy but from experience, I can tell you that policy makers sometimes get the message clearly when confronted with the actual picture on the ground,” she said.

The remarks come in the wake of delays in the implementation of the Food and National Nutrition Policy.

Machel hailed Malawi for reducing malnutrition by an average of 10 percent as indicated in the 2016 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey report.

However, she asked parliamentarians to be vigilant until the relevant pieces of legislation are passed into law.

In her remarks, Parliamentary Committee on HIV, Aids and Nutrition deputy chairperson Esther Jolobala said her committee strives to lobby the House in deliberating the frameworks but is usually let down by the Executive.

She said there is little political will in investing adequately towards growing the country’s nutrition sector. n