By McLoyd Chilangiza
GIZ Food and Nutrition Security Programme research conducted in Salima and Dedza districts has revealed that women lack comprehensive knowledge on food safety.
Researchers also point at poor knowledge of food handling and child feeding management as other problems they fault for escalating food-related diseases in the country.
These are results of a survey that was conducted in 2019 among 522 Salima and Dedza-based women.
“Only 23 percent of the women interchangeably used buckets for food-related and non-food-related activities,” findings of the study, which is part of a programme that seeks to improve dietary diversity of women and optimise diets of children in terms of diversity and feeding frequency, indicate.
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In the study, 19 percent did not keep their drinking water covered, 45 percent used a vessel that led to them frequently touching drinking water during scooping, with 47 percent using the same cup for scooping and drinking water and 42 percent failing to follow the principle of using separate utensils for raw and cooked foodstuffs and 63 percent failing to follow the principle of using separate storage materials.
The survey further shows that 65 percent of women consistently washed their hands before breastfeeding their babies and only six percent constantly used soap to wash containers used for infant feeding, with a further 26 percent of the respondents occasionally or regularly cooling porridge in their mouth before feeding babies .
The report says, in optimal terms, women lack comprehensive knowledge regarding food safety as well as good hygienic practices in rural areas, with the researchers saying this represents the habit of most women in the country.
Meanwhile, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Food Safety expert Limbikani Matumba has challenged Malawians to embark on comprehensive food safety practices in a quest to scale down the prevalence of food-related diseases.
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Matumba said efforts are being made to sensitise people to the importance of observing food safety practices such as washing hands with soap to control microbial food contamination like fumonisin and aflatoxin, which are known to be causing stunting among children.
“Most people lack information about observing the key moment of hand washing. This is because statistics have shown that almost 90 percent of people do not wash hands with soap,” Matumba said.
GIZ Food and Nutrition Security Programme Team Leader Martina Kress said the programme is encouraging women to ensure the provision of diversified food to children so as to improve their nutrition status.
Salima Principal Nutrition HIV and Aids Officer Michael Manon’ga acknowledged that there is a knowledge gap on food safety among the citizenry but said efforts are being made to sensitise community members to issues related to good food safety habits to control malnutrition.
The programme is being implemented in Dedza and Salima districts by a consortium of partners such as Care International and Self Help Africa.
