Combating Household malnutrition through cooking demonstrations
Malnutrition is a major health problem in Malawi, especially in young children and pregnant-lactating women (PLW) in rural households affected by HIV/AIDS. It is often compounded by other illnesses, contributing to high mortality rates in children under five. In addition to the well-recognized manifestations of acute malnutrition, kwashiorkor and marasmus, stunting rates are high, and various micronutrient deficiencies, including those of vitamin A, iron, iodine, and zinc, are prevalent.
According to UNICEF’s conceptual framework of malnutrition (2021), Malawi has multiple causes; among the underlying factors include food insecurity, which further leads to poor food quality and quantity, lack of access to diversified foods in households, and inadequate care and nutrition-sensitive food preparation practices.
In Mnongwa village, nearly every project participant has a backyard garden under the Household Nutrition and Economic Empowerment Through Vegetable Production, Value Addition and Marketing (NEVAM) project implemented by Agri-Impact Malawi (AIM). Through the volunteer structure known as care groups, AIM has been working hard to popularize the idea of home gardens as one way of fighting the malnutrition situation in the area. Apart from making sure that every household has a ready supply of vegetables, AIM also conducted complimentary cooking training and demonstrations that aim to address the cause of poor household food supply and diversity through the promotion of a high-energy indigenous nutrient-rich meal primarily for children aged 6-59 months, pregnant or lactating women and people living with HIV/AIDS.
” People in our village shun local foods and claim the food doesn’t taste good. But the cooking classes make the recipes exciting to encourage women to use their food to prepare better and nutritious meals’’. Said Doliya Liston, one of the project participants, who benefitted from the cooking training at Mnongwa Village, T/A Chadza in Lilongwe. Liston further said the cookery demonstration sessions have helped her improve her cooking skills and knowledge of using local foods from her home garden to make tasty and nutritious dishes.
“I didn’t realize that we could cook good food like this ourselves — I thought you could only get it in restaurants,” Doliya added, “My children are now always looking forward to mealtimes, which was not happening in the past. It is the same food they didn’t like, but now it’s better prepared.” Doliya is optimistic about the future and plans to continue practising other food preparation recipes she received through the project. She feels empowered and believes she has gained a special skill that does not require externally sourced ingredients but what they cultivate in their gardens and fields, giving them a cutting edge to prevent malnutrition in their community.
Project Location: Mnongwa Village, T/A Chadza in Lilongwe