A Decade of Transformation in Malawi’s Nutrition Landscape
From backyard gardens to stronger governance, rural communities lead the way in improving food and nutrition security
The Added Value of This Article
Hover over to have a look!Value add for readers
- Community-Driven Nutrition Improvements:– Eg small-scale, innovate gardening and local chicken production have significantly improved food security and nutrition, with families becoming more self-reliant.
- Strengthened Governance and Coordination:-with the construction of nutrition unit building, integration of nutrition into Malawi’s Social Protection Policy and the development of tools like the Nutrition Coordination Tool and district nutrition fund support.
- Sustainability and Knowledge Sharing- The legacy of the programme includes a wealth of knowledge products (manuals, videos, podcasts, guides) ensuring lasting impact on future interventions
Nutrition Unit receives motorbikes ⎮ Visual: © GIZ
In the villages of Dedza and Salima, a quiet but powerful transformation has taken place. Walking through these communities, it is hard to miss the vibrant home gardens full of vegetables, the fruit trees standing tall, or the local chickens roaming freely around homes that once struggled with malnutrition and food insecurity. Children are healthier. Stunting rates have dropped. Households are more food-secure than ever before.
Behind this change is a decade of dedicated work to improve nutrition and strengthen resilience—especially for women of reproductive age and children under two years. What began as a programme to address malnutrition has grown into a movement that reshaped everyday life in rural Malawi.
After ten years of community-driven interventions, this effort—financed by the German Development Cooperation and implemented through GIZ—has left an indelible mark. The work was carried out in close coordination with the Department of Nutrition in the Ministry of Health, implementing partners Self Help Africa and CARE, and the Dedza and Salima District Councils.
This has demonstrated that lasting change is possible. We have seen real progress in food security, improved nutrition outcomes, and strengthened local capacities. At the national level, we have seen the creation and strengthening of an enabling environment.
Growing Nutrition at Home: The Power of Small Gardens
One of the most effective interventions introduced in these communities was the promotion of climate-smart, small-scale gardening—using sack and hanging gardens crafted from locally available materials. These innovative approaches made it possible for families to grow diverse vegetables year-round, even with limited space.
Phekenawo Esnart Phiri shows off her small innovative sack gardens utilizing a little space for vegetable producation in Dedza ⎮Photo: © GIZ
Before, vegetables were a luxury in my home because we had to buy them at the market. Now, we eat them daily because we grow them ourselves environment.
Local Chickens, Healthier Children
Improving access to eggs and meat also helped boost household nutrition. By promoting local chicken farming and addressing cultural barriers to consuming animal-sourced foods, families were able to diversify their diets and improve child health.
We now understand the nutritional value of eggs and meat. My children are stronger and healthier
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Community Knowledge: Reviving the Care Group Model
To ensure that knowledge around nutrition, hygiene, and household practices reached every corner of the communities, the programme revitalized and restructured the Care Group model. Promoters received in-depth training and mentored Cluster Leaders, who in turn supported families with practical advice and follow-up.
The knowledge we gained is within us, and we will continue sharing it. We support households with different nutrition and hygiene messages.
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Laying the Groundwork: Governance and Coordination
The Food and Nutrition Support Programme supported the construction of a Nutrition Unit office, providing a space for nutrition partners at the district council to work together under one roof, to enhance coordination. Part of it was also the financing of motorbikes.
Lasting change requires more than food. The programme helped strengthen governance structures to ensure sustainability. One key milestone was the successful advocacy for including nutrition-sensitive interventions in Malawi’s Social Protection Policy.
A District Nutrition Fund was also piloted, giving councils resources to respond directly to needs identified from the ground up. To improve planning and coordination, a Nutrition Coordination Tool was developed—both web-based and mobile—mapping interventions across locations and actors, ensuring resources go where they are needed most.
A key milestone, the official handover of the Nutrition Unit Offices to strengthen governance ⎮Photos: © GIZ
For the first time, the nutrition office at the district council had the flexibility to allocate resources based on real community needs—and the Nutrition Coordination Tool is a game changer when it comes to tracking nutrition progress.
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Gender: Putting Equality into Practice
Understanding that women are central to household nutrition, the programme emphasized gender-sensitive approaches that empowered women in decision-making and income generation. At the same time, men were engaged through Father-to-Father groups to take on a more active role in child nutrition and caregiving.
Mavuto cooking porridge for their baby and men actively engaging in gender discussions during father to father group meeting ⎮ Photos: © GIZ
We encourage fellow men to help their spouses with household chores, including cooking and feeding infants and children.
Clean Hands, Healthy Homes
Hygiene was another priority. The construction of durable latrines using local materials improved sanitation in a way that could be maintained even under harsh weather conditions. Communities also learned how to build and maintain simple handwashing stations—tippy taps—near latrines to encourage consistent hygiene practices.
From Emergency Response to Long-Term Resilience
In times of acute need, the programme also provided emergency nutrition support. More than 1,300 mothers received targeted cash transfers to meet urgent dietary needs. They were also given seeds for cassava, soy, and groundnuts, and trained in climate-smart agriculture to help prevent future food insecurity.
Mother explaining how their children’s nutrition statuses have improved after cash transfers; Linda showing off her field as she planted seed that she received under GIZ’s emergency response initiative and German embassy and GIZ officials visiting beneficiary fields supported under the emergency response initiative ⎮ Photos: © GIZ
My child went from malnourished and underweight to healthy and strong in just a month, gaining 2kg
A Lasting Legacy of Shared Knowledge
Though the programme has concluded, its legacy lives on. A wide range of knowledge products have been handed over to the Department of Nutrition, District Councils, communities, and partners. These include instructional videos, podcast series, step-by-step guides, food safety materials, frequently asked questions on the Nutrition Coordination Tool, local chicken management handbooks, durable latrine manuals, nutrition response reports, alternative food recipes, and more.
These tools are now part of Malawi’s nutrition infrastructure—and will continue to shape interventions in the years to come.
FNSP Knowledge products shared to ensure lasting impact and sustainability; FNSP official reviewing the knowledge products handed over to partners for future use; Printed knowledge products that were handed to partners and communities; Staff reviewing the knowledge products handed over to partners for future use ⎮ Photos: © GIZ
This built a foundation for sustainable nutrition security, but the work continues.Let this be the beginning of renewed commitment, stronger partnerships, and a lasting legacy of nutrition impact—it’s over to us.
Contact
- Trevor Madeya, Junior Advisor, OE 1300, Food & Nutrition Security Programme, Malawi
- Rachel Kachali, Technical Advisor, GIZ FNSP. Rachel.kachali@giz.de
