Malnutrition, household income and food security in rural Malawi

Despite the very impressive gains made in national crop production in the agricultural sector, Malawi continues to face a significant development challenge to reduce the high levels of child malnutrition and mortality which prevail across the country. The problem of household food and economic insecurity, or in other words the inability of families to produce or purchase enough food to meet basic biological needs, is considered to be a major determinate of Malawi's nutrition problem. This paper examines the problems of child mortality and malnutrition within a conceptual framework approach. First, the immediate causes of malnutrition at the child level are examined including such factors as child feeding practices, illness and disease as well as maternal health and nutrition. Next the under lying causes of malnutrition at the household level are reviewed especially in terms of the constraints which prevent rural families from either producing or purchasing adequate food to meet their biological requirements. Finally the basic causes operating at the national level, including the impact of macro-policies and such key factors as the high population growth rate and limited donor assistance are reviewed in terms of their influence on household food and nutritional security. It is recognized that to eradicate the problems of child malnutrition and mortality in Malawi, efforts must not be solely confined to the health sector. To achieve a sustained improvement the longer-term structural causes, especially that of household food and economic insecurity, must also be addressed through broad-based agricultural and rural development programmes, to ensure that all families have the means to produce or purchase enough food.