Save the Children fights malnutrition in Mwanza
Save the Children International has launched a five-year project to reduce levels of malnutrition in Mwanza District.
The project, Support for Nutrition Improvement Component, will be implemented with funding from World Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency (Cida).
Speaking at the launch, Save the Children International director of health David Melody said
the project aims at contributing to the reduction of child stunting as well as maternal and child anaemia in traditional authorities (T/As) Nthache, Govati and Kanduku.
“We will equip community members with skills on how to grow, prepare and serve nutritious meals to children,” said Melody.
Mwanza district commissioner (DC) Gift Rapozo expressed worry over increasing levels of malnutrition and stunting in the district, saying the problem poses a threat to the overall health of children.
“The situation is worse in Mwanza where over 50 percent of the children population is malnourished and stunted. Actually, Malawi’s nutrition crisis may well be a case of famine in a land of plenty because what most families lack is not the food, but the skills for preparing it,” said Rapozo.
He said he hoped the project will bridge the gap “that was created after the fall of one-party rule in 1994 to today”.
“During the one-party era, nutrition counsellors used to go around villages empowering women with skills in food preparation. The counsellors stopped their work after we changed the system of government,” said Rapozo.
