By SARAH TEMBO –
MUMBWA District Commissioner Sunday Shamabanse says the number of children suffering from malnutrition in the district has drastically reduced following the implementation of the Rain Project by Concern Worldwide.
The project by the international organisation started in 2011 aimed at realigning agriculture to improve nutrition and has so far benefited 4,500 households.
Mr Shamabanse said that Mumbwa was one of the districts with the highest number of malnourished children before the implementation of the Rain Project.
The district has an estimated 1,268 under-five children, 45 per cent of whom were malnourished before the Rain Project which has now managed to reduce the rate of malnourishment to 20 per cent, according to the district commissioner.
“My district was one of those with the highest number of children suffering from malnutrition but with this project that has started yielding positive results, we have hope that malnutrition will be eradicated,” he said.
Concern Worldwide communication and documentation officer Reginald Ntomba said 4,500 households had benefited from the project since its inception in 2011.
Mr Ntomba said the project was aimed at educating the rural communities on how they could address the problem of malnutrition before a child could actually become malnourished.
“We want to reduce the prevalence of chronic malnutrition among young children and improve the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women in Mumbwa District through targeted interventions during the first 1,000 days,” Mr Ntomba said.
One of the beneficiaries, Milliam Muluri said her child was suffering from malnutrition but recovered rapidly after feeding from food planted under the project.
“I have planted 17 different types of food in my garden and I am ablto feed my children with a balanced diet from my farm produce,” she said.
Another beneficiary, Funwell Vara said the project had saved a lot of children from dying from chronic malnutrition.