Policy support for agricultural and dietary diversification in Malawi
Malawi’s agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder farmers, who mostly rely on rain-fed agriculture to grow the country’s staple crop, maize. The preference for maize production is driven by the popularity of ‘nsima’ (Chichewa word for maize flour) by most Malawians. This over reliance on one crop, irrespective of the agronomic or weather conditions, has contributed to rising food insecurity for many households.
According to a renowned agricultural expert, Tamani Nkhono Mvula, Malawi’s food security is defined in terms of access to maize, which means that even if total food production is above the minimum food requirement, the nation is still deemed to be food insecure.
Yet maize is not the only nutritious staple food available in the country.
After maize, the most widely consumed foods are other carbohydrates, such as rice, cassava, and potatoes. This has led to minimal focus on, and limited production and consumption of the other five food groups, namely fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts, animal products, and fats.
The relatively high cost of these other foods is a factor in low demand, especially in light of the economic impact of Covid-19. But the low attention to the recommended food groups has also been attributed to a general lack of understanding about other locally available foods that households can consume throughout the year.
In order to raise more awareness about the health, as well as economic benefits of a more diverse diet, the government developed the 2018–2022 National Nutrition Policy and Strategic Plan. The policy emphasises the need for agricultural diversification to ensure that farmers also embrace a broader variety of crops across the six food groups.
Two national programmes, AFIKEPO- Nutrition and Food Security Programme, and KULIMA, were set up to support implementation of the policy by promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture. According to a recent report that documented some success stories from the programmes, awareness is growing at the household level, which is contributing to increased food security.
For example, many households have added more nutritious, and easy-to-grow foods, such as sweet potatoes or pumpkins, to their diets. Unlike the past when only nsima was considered a main meal, such foods are no longer viewed as being just a snack.
Even though maize still tops the recent agricultural survey report, it is encouraging to see that there also has been an improvement in production growth of cereals, legumes, roots and tubers, as well as livestock and fisheries production by smallholder farmers.
Dietary disruptions caused by Covid19
Despite these encouraging signs, the novel coronavirus threatens to undo the positive steps towards food security taken by Malawi and other countries.
In this article, Kristin Hall and Kerri Wazny cite data showing that before the Covid-19 outbreak, 57.7% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa, and 34.3% of Asia, was already reportedly to be experiencing food insecurity. Noting the potential impact on food and nutrition security, as people are forced to turn to cheaper, less nutritious foods, the authors discuss some winning strategies to build back a more resilient societies by ensuring better integration of health, social, and food systems.
As the pandemic continues to make headway, Derek Headey and Marie Ruel argue that the repercussions may include the reduced nutritional status of vulnerable communities, as well as a possible decline in dietary quality. The article stresses the need for collective efforts to strengthen resilience at the local level.
To ensure sufficient scale, such efforts will also require multi-sectoral coalitions and collaborations to ensure the protection of vulnerable communities from Covid-19, and other future threats.
Written by Nellie Kanyemba Kapatuka
This article is part of Covid-19 Food/Future, an initiative under TMG ThinkTank for Sustainability’s SEWOH Lab project (https://www.tmg-thinktank.com/sewoh-lab). It aims at providing a unique and direct insight into the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on national and local food systems. Also follow @CovidFoodFuture, our Video Diaries From Nairobi, and @TMG_think on Twitter. Funding for this initiative is provided by BMZ, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
