Chitipa District Council has expressed a concern with the rising level of stunting among under-5 children in the district.
This was revealed in a meeting organised by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) with duty bearers whereby the survey conducted by CCJP, out of every 100 children in Chitipa, 50.8 are stunted.
Principal Agriculture Officer (PAO) for Chitipa District Council, Steven Msopole, acknowledged the development as a worrying situation for the district.
However, Msopole assured that the nutrition department would scale up interventions to combat the high stunting rate.
Assistant Programme Officer for CCJP, Stella Zimba Wella, explained that poor infrastructure and road networks are significant contributing factors to the high stunting rate which must be addressed.
“We want to improve awareness of the right to food among people in community areas,” Wella said.
Chitipa District Civil Society Organisation Network Chairperson, Patrick Ziba, commended CCJP for conducting the survey.
“This is an eye-opener, and we need to work on it,” Ziba said, calling for collaboration among stakeholders to address the issue.
The survey was conducted to identify the causes of stunting and undernutrition in Chitipa.
By Joseph Mbughi, Chitipa
