Red Cross moves to curb stunting in Mangochi

Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) Mangochi district coordinator Francis Liyati Phiri has urged non-governmental organisations implementing various nutritional projects to work together to curb stunting in the district.

Speaking on Saturday at Malombe Health Centre in Traditional Authority Chowe, the official said the district’s high prevalence rate of stunting, which stands at 45.4 percent, surpassing the national rate of 37.1 percent, calls for collaboration to deal with it.

“I am not amused with these increasing cases of malnutrition in the district because they are posing a great risk to our under-five children as they are dying of malnutrition-related deaths,” he said on the sidelines of an open day organised to showcase locally-made nutritious food.

Phiri attributed stunting to failure by some communities to eat six groups of food.

One of the participants, Herbert Kaduya, who also chairs a group that promotes issues of nutrition, pledged to impart the skills to their colleagues in the area.

During the event, people were taught to make porridge from sweet potato, coffee from soya beans, juice from tomato, meat from nandolo (pigeon peas), chips from sweet potatoes and peanut from groundnuts, among others.

MRCS, with funding from United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), is implementing a four-year scaling up nutrition project in the  district.