Embrace good nutrition practices, communities told

Kasungu District Agriculture Office food and nutrition officer Benson Chingoli has urged communities in the district to embrace good nutrition practices under Afikepo Programme.

He said this on Monday when he inspected cooking demonstrations conducted by the programme’s beneficiaries in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kaluluma in the district.

Chingoli said beneficiaries should always strive to eat nutritious food to prevent stunting.

He said: “A healthy nation begins right in the home. It should be a habit to always eat six food groups. This is why we expect people to have vegetable gardens, orchards and domestic animals.

“These cooking demonstrations are part of the larger processes to ensure that communities adopt acceptable eating standards.”

Chingoli said it was pleasing that most communities in the district have hygiene and sanitation facilities as trained under one of Afikepo project’s components.

T/A Kaluluma Care Group promoter Irene Foliano said the project has contributed a lot to the development of their area as most families know how to prepare nutritious meals from locally available resources.

“I always encourage my followers to follow good nutrition practices and most households are a living testimony,” she said.

The project is being implemented in 10 districts, including Kasungu with funding from the European Union, through Unicef, Food and Agriculture Organisation and Malawi Government.

In Kasungu, it is implemented in T/As Mnyanja, Kaluluma and Mphomwa