Self Help Africa (SHA) has urged stakeholders in Malawi to strengthen coordination across the food system to tackle malnutrition, reduce post-harvest losses and improve access to affordable, nutritious food.
SHA Country Director Kate Hartley Louis said fragmented efforts across the agricultural value chain could undermine progress in addressing food and nutrition challenges, stressing the need for collaboration from production and storage to processing, distribution and consumption.
Presenting a position paper to the Ministry of Agriculture, Louis said the document would provide guidance for coordinated implementation of food systems programmes at national and district levels.
She said stakeholders needed to work together to ensure nutritious food was efficiently delivered to households and remained affordable.
Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary Erica Maganga underscored the importance of sustained partnerships between government, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders in transforming Malawi’s food systems.
National Planning Commission Research Officer Frank Kamanga called on stakeholders to align their programmes with the National Food Systems Transformation Programme to ensure a coordinated approach to national food security priorities.
Meanwhile, Dedza District Commissioner Rosemary Nawasha said the council would incorporate the position paper’s priorities into its development plan, signalling a commitment to translating national food systems objectives into district-level action.
The initiative seeks to strengthen collaboration among key players in the food chain, with the broader goal of reducing food losses, improving nutrition and ensuring households have better access to affordable, nutritious food.
