By Wezzie Gausi:
A staggering 76 percent of Malawian children aged between six and 23 months are living in child food poverty while 25.5 percent are in severe food poverty, consuming food from only two or fewer food groups per day, research findings indicate.
The figures were presented to stakeholders Wednesday during the launch of the First Foods Africa Initiative in Lilongwe.
This is a new United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef)- supported programme aimed at improving access to nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable foods for children aged between six and 59 months.
Deputy Minister of Health Noah Chimpeni said the statistics reflected a deep-rooted crisis in Malawi’s food systems, adding that the problem was “severely” affecting early childhood development.
“Children are surviving on poor diets made up of limited staple foods, lacking vital nutrients from fruits, vegetables, legumes, eggs, fish, dairy and meat,” Chimpeni said. “This has long-term implications on growth, learning ability and future productivity.”
He added that traditional interventions focusing only on nutrition counselling were no longer sufficient.
“We must go beyond information and take systemic action that transforms how we produce, process and deliver food for children,” he said.
Speaking at the same event, acting Director- General of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Joseph Nagoli said improving children’s nutrition was one of the smartest investments the country could make.
He stressed that child food poverty—which simply means the inability of children to access a diverse and nutritious diet—had become one of the biggest barriers to meeting national development goals.
“The first 1,000 days of a child’s life present a critical window of opportunity. Better nutrition during this period determines whether a child thrives or struggles.
“Child food poverty is not just a health issue; it is an economic and developmental issue. It undermines our vision of becoming a lower-middle-income country by 2063,” Nagoli said.
According to Unicef Country Representative Johannes Wedening, Malawi joins 13 other African countries in implementing the First Foods Africa Initiative, which is built on three pillars, namely: incentivising local food production; shaping enabling policy environments; and stimulating consumption of nutrient-rich foods.
Wedening noted that despite widespread food insecurity efforts, the specific dietary needs of children had often been overlooked.
“A recent survey found that of more than 800 food products marketed in West Africa, only 20 percent were nutritionally adequate for children— and most were imported,” he said. “It’s encouraging to see locally produced, child-appropriate foods available here in Malawi. The challenge now is to scale that up.”
The initiative is aligned with the Malawi 2063 vision and the country’s 10-year implementation plan. It is expected to play a central role in addressing problems such as malnutrition, stunting and underdevelopment, which currently affect over one-third of children under the age of five, according to the 2024 Malawi Demographic Health Survey.
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