By Zenak Matekenya

Dedza, December 21, Mana: Dedza and Salima district councils have taken a proactive approach to addressing malnutrition by intensifying their probe into nutrition funding from the government to reduce malnutrition cases in the country.

Malnutrition remains a pressing issue in the country with malnourished children exposed to risk of suffering repeated illnesses and infections which result in significant economic burdens on families and healthcare system.

Through Oxfam’s Increasing Resources allocation and Prioritization Towards Nutrition Malawi project funded by GIZ, Dedza and Salima district councils have analyzed gaps in nutrition funding and developed minimum standard budgets to present to authorities as a lobbying tool.

Speaking Friday following a District Based budget analysis and minimum standard budgets development exercise for nutrition in Dowa, District Principal Nutrition and HIV Officer for Salima, Yamikani Makondi, said the effort is crucial in justifying the need for more funding.

“Government’s commitment towards nutrition funding is at least five percent of the district budget, but for Salima, for instance, we had a gap of about 3.7 percent because we had 1.3 percent allocation.

“Five percent is not adequate enough, but if we could access it all the better,” he said.

He emphasized that a crucial key in the fight against malnutrition lies in prevention itself, which encompasses cultivation of nutritious food to ensure steady supply of nutritive foods and preparation to ensures that the food preserves its nutritional value.

“Besides, utilization comes in to promote the consumption of nutritious foods and educating communities on key healthy eating habits,” he said.

District Principal Nutrition and HIV Officer Loti Makina said most interventions aimed at scaling up nutrition in Malawi are supported by partners, who often have specific areas of interest where they focus their resources.

He said this can create gaps in other equally important areas, leaving them underfunded and under addressed.

“Despite this challenge, government has taken a step forward by allocating funds towards nutrition, recognizing its critical role in the country's development. We are urging the government to do more,” he said.

Notably, he said Dedza has utilized some of these resources from government, to support households in developing backyard gardens, promoting a steady supply of nutritious foods.

Dedza district’s stunting rate has risen from 42 percent to 43.6 percent between 2023 and 2024 due to Elnino that led to poor farm produce against the country’s current stunting rate that stands at 37 percent with Salima at 34.5 percent.

Oxfam Nutrition and Food System Transformation Coordinator Chimwemwe Chilenga said the exercise was crucial to help district and the country to have a basis on how much is required to operate optimally.

“We have always complained of having limited resources, but we have never had a basis as to how much we need as a country, or as a district to operate optimally,” she said.