The 2024 UNICEF report on child food poverty shows that Malawi has from 2021-2023 reduced the burden of undernutrition such as stunting from 42.4 percent to 35.5 percent.
Malawi’s new status of moderate child food poverty means that children in the country are able to get three or four food groups per day as opposed to a minimum zero or two food groups per day under severe child food poverty status, an improvement from being a country with severe child food poverty to moderate child food poverty.
The report further pointed out that globally one in four children are living in severe child food poverty amount to 181 million children affected with South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa being the most hit regions.
It also highlighted household income poverty, poor child feeding practices and poor food environment as the three major drivers of severe child food poverty in most countries.
Meanwhile, government has through the Ministry of Health and other development partners been implementing various nutrition programmes as part of addressing chronic nutrition and diversification of dietary intake among children.
One of the programmes is the Afikepo Project, which UNICEF has been implementing with funding from the European Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
By Alufisha Fischer
