“Let them (children) develop to their full potential” This is what Afi kepo means in Chichewa, Malawi’s local language. One in every four children in Malawi are stunted due to poor dietary habits. The Afi kepo Nutrition Programme aims at reducing stunting in children under 5 through Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture and improved feeding and nutrition and to enhance nutrition security of all Malawians especially women of child bearing age, adolescent girls, infants and young children. AFIKEPO NUTRITION SENSITIVE Issue 1/ January- April 2019 AGRICULTURE (NSA) NEWSLETTER Nkhata Bay community acquires skills in food preparation for improved household nutrition Interactive drama, food tasting and nutrition education were the focus of the fi rst Afi kepo cooking demonstration held at Mgolozera Village in TA Mkumbira in NkhataBay. Cooking demonstrations give the community improved methods of food preparation and hygiene, equipping them with the skills to prepare balanced, nutritious meals. They also provide information on how to avoid becoming malnourished. Speaking during the function, the village headman urged his community to remember the simple cooking techniques and improve the quality of food they prepare in their homes. He emphasized the need for households to eat nutritious foods Doris Phiri health surveillance assistant for Nkhata-Bay, encouraged A care group member participates in a cooking demonstration in Kasungu Continued on page 5 Nkhotakota commits Chiradzulu Care Mzimba North benefi ting Learning new to District wide promoters drilled in SUN from improved nutrition nutrition skills improvement in nutrition Education for better through backyard gardens through care groups and food security nutrition Pregnant with hope and new knowledge on healthy eating – th e stor y of Gertrude Wisik Gertrude Wisik ,23, has learned to diversify food in her household and now prepares various foods including maize, rice, fi sh, meat, vegetables, beans and fruits, depending on season. Gertrude is a mother of one and is pregnant with her second child. She now eats a nutrient-dense food for her and her unborn baby, and cooks using iodized salt. She also eats foods that are rich in iron and vitamins. The fact that she feeds herself and her family nutritious foods has helped the work she does in her community. She is a cluster leader of eight neighboring households under the Mdachi Care group. One of her tasks is to educate those in her group on maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding, complementary feeding, sanitation and hygiene, using the counselling cards provided by UNICEF. Using the knowledge she has gained through Afi kepo, a nutrition programme that aims to reduce stunting among children under 5, she demonstrates her skills to the cluster households in her community. She says previous lack of knowledge Gertrude, (second from right) with some members of Vithenga Community Organized Group prevented her from having a healthy at a food display in Nkhotakota diet although nutritious foods had always been available. Being a young mother, and armed with knowledge in ante-natal care, she started visiting a health clinic the fi rst month of her pregnancy and now visits every two months. In preparation for the coming birth, she has made plans to have her baby in a health facility rather than at home. She has a good understanding of how to take care of the baby and plans to initiate breast feeding within the fi rst 30 minutes and continue exclusive breastfeeding for the fi rst six months. She will continue breastfeeding until the baby is at least 24 months and thereafter introduce appropriate complementary foods. Care givers queue with their babies for health checks 2 AFIKEPO NUTRITION SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE (NSA) NEWSLETTER 2 1 3 4 5 1. Latrine in a homestead with a hand washing mponda gear 2. Chicken in a homestead can provide meat and eggs, a good source of proteins 3. Vertical vegetable garden 4. Complementary porridge ideal for 2 year olds some sugar 5. Mary Kulani & Catherine Maliro tend a vegetable garden in TA Mkaka Mulanje district 3 Nkhotakota commits to District wide improvement in nutrition Beatrice is assisted to wash her hands before eating Care group members from Kasungu making mango ju Nkhotakota district takes pride on Chikhulupiliro care groups explained, learnt skills in food handling, hygiene two fronts in the implementation of “Households are already benefi ting and preparation. the Afi kepo Nutrition programme. from the knowledge acquired in After hosting the fi rst Programme food preparation, diversifi cation and In Nkhotakota like in all other Steering Committee monitoring hygiene and this has contributed to programme districts, Afi kepo is visit the district has committed to better nutrition at household level.” promoting Nutrition Sensitive district wide implementation of the Community members have since Agriculture especially production and Afi kepo programme in all the TAs learnt the nutritional value of some consumption of the Malawi six foods namely Mwansambo, Mwadzama A, of the locally available foods such to improve nutrition at household Mwadzama B, Malengachanzi and as eggs, meat and fi sh, tomatoes, and community level defying Mphonde, Kanyenda and Kafuzira. cabbage, pineapples and bananas the commonplace diet typically which are rich in iron. They also characterized by consumption of Over 200 cooking demonstrations learnt of vitamin A rich foods such as Nsima to the exclusion of other have been held at community level yellow/ orange fruits and vegetables food types. To diversify diet for to equip communities with better like ripe mangoes, pawpaws, nutrition improvement communities skills in food preparation to ensure pumpkins and carrots and local are educated and encouraged to food retains all necessary nutrients dark green leafy vegetables such consume a variety of foods and given to curb stunting and other nutrition as bonogwe, kholowa and chisoso. skills on preparation to improve diets related problems. They now know how better to prepare in their households familiar foods for optimal nutritional As Gertrude Maulana, a care benefi ts. They employed their newly According to Patrick Kombe, group promoter for Mdachi and 4 AFIKEPO NUTRITION SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE (NSA) NEWSLETTER Nkhata Bay community acquires skills in food preparation for improved household nutrition Continued from page 1 the community to grow local foods as they were nutritious and readily available. She also emphasized the need to employ good hygiene practices to prevent diarrhea, which is common during the rainy season. Local agriculture extension development offi cer, Clara Mandula, called on the community to grow vegetables in backyard gardens, and keep livestock such as goats and chicken to ensure households had uice A backyard garden with local vegetables diversifi ed diets. The cooking demonstration was the Afi kepo District coordinator, Afi kepo has engaged Nkhotakota attended by Nkhata Bay district health Nkhotakota is well on course. Community radio to broadcast promotion officer, Christopher Singini, messages promoting uptake of district information officer, Aliko To promote behaviour change the positive behaviour and practices in Munde, Afikepo district coordinator, district has trained 4 new drama nutrition. A total of 12 local leaders Memory Nyemba, and staff from the groups in theatre for development and champions have also been Afikepo Programme. from TAs Mphonde, Malengachanzi engaged in production of behaviour and Mwadzama. Their role is to raise change promotional jingles. The key Afikepo uses multiple channels of awareness and increase household messages are broadcast twice a day communication to promote nutritious knowledge and adoption of positive and will run for six months. diets and healthy eating, particularly behaviour change in nutrition, among adolescent girls, pregnant maternal infant and young child FAO and UNICEF have provided women, lactating mothers and children feeding as well as food processing fi nancial and material support aged 6 – 24 months. and preservation. So far, these groups to facilitate implementation of have been effective in promoting activities. Some of the support With support from Afikepo, Chirundu key messages on nutrition, food includes 2 vehicles, one allocated to FM community radio broadcasts a nutrition programme every Tuesday processing and preservation for the government and the other to FAO/ from 4 p.m. and Thursday from 7:30 them to take to the community and UNICEF team. FAO also delivered 7 p.m. Titled Ulyero wamampha, which households. It is envisaged that motorbikes to Afi kepo while UNICEF means “good feeding” in English. The through this mode of communication provided SUN education counselling programme focuses on healthy eating communities embrace the messages materials for use by care group practices among households. Chirundu and adopt behaviour change in promoters during their counselling shares a recipe with its listeners, nutritional matters. lessons and has also given support developed with local ingredients every towards the cooking demonstrations. week. 5 Mzimba North benefiting from improved nutrition through backyard gardens Locally available green, leafy vegetables such as pumpkin leaves, amaranthus, tomatoes and mustard are high in nutrients. The Mzimba North community is being urged to plant the vegetables as they contain micronutrients such as vitamin A, essential for eye and immune system development, skin and cell health. They also contain vitamin C, needed for growth, development