By Tione Andsen
District Community Development Officer (DCDO) for Salima, Brighton Chunga has admitted that the district has been greatly affected in the implementation of nutrition activities due to Flooding.
He disclosed this Friday in Salima during District Nutrition Coordinating Committee (DNCC) briefing meeting on the project introduction of Increasing Resource Allocation and Accountability for Nutrition Sector in Malawi Phase II.
Chunga said the district was heavily affected by floods which renders some households homeless and their crops were washed away.
He said the second phase of the nutrition projects which is being supported by Oxfam through GIZ with funding from European Union (EU) has the component of conducting cost of hunger and malnutrition study at family economy which provide an opportunity for district to do a proper assessment.
“This study will help us to know how much has been invested in the nutrition sector in the district and which partners are providing resources to the communities,” the DCDO added.
Chunga said by using the study, the DNCC would be able to know where nutrition interventions would be needed to serv the communities better.
“Development is not only infrastructures as many communities tend to believe but provision of software part such as delivery of nutrition intervention should be taken on board always. They will only be able to participate in their development activities if they are healthy and strong,” he pointed out
The DCDO noted that some nutrition projects have been implemented not to the required standards to which communities could benefit more.
Livelihoods and Resilient Manager for Oxfam, Steve Kuliyazi said cost of hunger and malnutrition study is a key activity which aims at generating information from family economy which could help us to understand how much as country we are losing through malnutrition related challenges.
He believes by doing the study would help the households and authority to make sure that when they are planning for their investments they should think of nutrition.
Kuliyazi added there was need to consider development projects which could help improve the nutrition sector in the district.
“We don’t really don’t understand the cost of hunger and malnutrition as a country.
We need to have come out clear and we believe the study will provide us with how much we are losing through the two items,” he added.
Nutrition, HIV and AIDS Officer at the Department of Nutrition, HIV and AIDS (DNHA), Catherine Tsoka assured DNCC members that discussions are underway to ensure that financial resources are provided to Principal Nutrition, HIV and AIDS Officer (PNHAO) offices.
She said resource allocation the PNHAO has been a long-standing issue which has affected the implementation nutrition programmes at district level.