Save the Children for low-cost technology

Save the Children is promoting low-cost technologies to encourage food processing, preservation and stimulating economic activities in Malawi.

Health and nutrition specialist for the organisation, Doris Mphande, told journalists in Zomba last week that the initiative has improved people’s livelihoods in the district.

Solar dryers, fireless cookers and energy saving stoves are some of technologies the organisation is encouraging.

Mphande said food processing and preservation at both local and national levels are crucial for the economic development of Malawi.

Agriculture is the engine of Malawi’s economy, accounting for about 70 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and contributing about 30 percent to its gross domestic product (GDP).

But Mphande noted that food wastage is a major challenge facing the sector; hence, efforts by Save the Children to encourage farmers to process some of the country’s food stuffs for both sale and food.

Malawi’s post harvest loss for maize, for example, is pegged at 12.9 percent.

“The idea behind food processing is to promote people’s livelihoods and improve their nutritional status, especially among the under fives, pregnant and lactating women,” she said.

She said there is a close link between malnutrition and economic development, saying poor nutrition increases risks of infections, retards mental and physical development, resulting in poor performance both in school and at workplaces.

“If people underperform at school and at work, economic development remains a far-fetched dream,” said Mphande.