MALAWI: Malnutrition rising in south and north

Photo: IRIN

The new vulnerability assessment may indicate a rise in need

JOHANNESBURG, 12 October 2005 (IRIN) - Aid agencies are concerned about the rising number of malnourished children admitted to nutritional rehabilitation units (NRU) at clinics in Malawi. Although southern Malawi has been the area worst affected by food shortages this year, the steep uptick in admissions to NRUs in the northern part of the country has raised alarm among aid workers. The World Food Programme (WFP) has been providing assistance to affected populations in southern Malawi and plans to scale up its efforts as the lean season between harvests approaches. Aid programmes in the central and northern parts of the country have been run by the government with the support of donors, such as the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Kasper Engborg, of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Malawi, told IRIN that data collected from 48 UNICEF-supported NRUs across the country showed a growing percentage of severely malnourished children. Preliminary analysis of the data showed that admissions to NRUs in September were four percent higher than in August. "If we compare admissions in September this year to September 2004, it shows an increase in admissions to NRUs of 11 percent," Engborg noted. Although the "southern districts of Malawi are still the ones with the highest absolute number of admissions", northern Malawi had experienced a sharper increase in the rate of admissions to NRUs on a year-on-year basis. Admissions to NRUs in southern Malawi during September had increased by 15 percent compared to September 2004, but in northern Malawi they were 30 percent higher than in the previous September; the central region showed an increase of one percent on last year's figure for September. "This shows that the [food security] situation continues to deteriorate," Engborg said. The preliminary report on admissions to NRUs noted that "the admissions of children with severe malnutrition only show the tip of the iceberg" of the food crisis. Given the rapidly deteriorating food security of households in the north and south, a revised vulnerability assessment would be published soon, said DFID Malawi head Roger Wilson. The government was planning to feed over 2 million people, through its own scheme, while WFP had targeted another 2 million in the south. "The total numbers at risk are 4.2 million. However, an assessment is being done now by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC), and a revised assessment of the numbers of people in need will be ready by the end of October," Wilson added. WFP has already warned that the number of people in need of food aid could rise to five million in the coming months. DFID has provided US $26 million to support the government's food aid programmes in the north and central parts of the country. "The government programme was initially just [distributing] maize, but it is going to be diversified to include pulses and oils, etc," Wilson noted.