By Elias Masamba

Phalombe, May 13, Mana: We Effect, a Swedish international organization, and the Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) have launched a five-year nutrition-focused project to empower Malawi’s civil society organizations (CSOs) to achieve sustainable nutrition levels in Phalombe and other districts across the country in order to address malnutrition.

Presenting the project to Phalombe District Executive Committee (DEC) recently, We Effect Nutrition Officer, Olivia Mpulula, said the organization has an advocacy role to play in improving the country’s pursuit of good nutrition levels among citizens.

She explained that the project was designed to empower CSOs to take lead in advocating, lobbying and pushing for increased funding towards nutrition programmes while equipping local communities with essential skills and knowledge in nutritious food preparation.

“This is an upstream advocacy project; funds will not be directly disbursed to districts, instead, they will be used to build capacity of community members and the media to effectively advocate for better nutrition,” Mpulula said.

She further said that the project will work closely with local organizations and community radio stations to disseminate nutrition-related messages for impactful results.

“We believe that community radios and local organizations will pray an active role in this project. We expect them to produce greater impact and more meaningful results,” Mpulula added.

Recent statistics show that Malawi continues to face critical levels of malnutrition, underscoring the need for urgent interventions.

The project will be implemented under the theme; Nourishing Futures: Empowering Malawi’s Civil Society Organizations for Sustainable Nutrition.

We Effect, in partnership with FUM, will spend €1,579,000 from the European Union (EU) and the Government of Malawi.

The project aligns with Malawi 2063, National Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Policy and Sustainable Development Goals