By Aliko Munde

Chitipa, May 5, Mana: Principal Nutrition, HIV and AIDS Officer for Chitipa, Martin Mkandawire has advised non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the district to coordinate with government sectors for the smooth implementation of their projects.

Mkandawire made the call on Wednesday during a review meeting for Tubepoka Development Initiative (TDI) project titled; Sustainable Household Resilience for Child Survival (SHR-CS).

He noted with concern that some NGOs in the district are working in isolation, without the knowledge of key sectors, which he appealed to change.

“The NGOs complement government efforts and they are supposed to work hand in hand with sectors involved in the implementation of projects as one of the sustainable measures,” Mkandawire said.

He then applauded TDI for implementing the nutrition project, which he said is a plus in the district after phasing out of USAID-funded projects.

Mkandawire said that TDI nutrition activities are visible in Senior Chiefs Nthalire and Mwabulambya.

Food Security and Livelihood Project Officer for TDI, Nellie Nkhata said that despite some challenges like high inflation rate which has crippled the project activities, the project has made some strides in the livelihood component.

Nkhata said that 94 households in Group Village Heads Mwenje and Mwambenje have been trained on how to make mbeya fertilizer as one way of introducing households to climate-smart agriculture.

“The houses were supported with 20 kilogrammes fertilizer and 5 kilogrammes of maize seed per household and managed to make 9.4 tonnes of mbeya fertilizer which they applied in their 8.4 hectares of maize field,” she said.

Nkhata further said that through their programme, 103 children have been screened and vaccinated as one way of improving early detection of malnutrition.

TDI is implementing a four-year SHR-CS project funded by Willow Creek Community Church in Mwenje area, Senior Chief Nthalire and Mwambenje in Senior Chief Mwabulambya in the district.