Primary school students like these to benefit from the SHN strategy process. Photo © FAO/ Mike Chipalasa

29 June 2016, Malawi – The Government of Malawi says the review of the School Health and Nutrition (SHN) Strategy and Guidelines would improve coordination and implementation of activities among players across the country.

The national SHN program is currently in the process of reviewing its Strategic Plan and Guidelines – with the support of FAO and the Government of Brazil - as part of efforts to align all documents to a new sectorial policy.

Within the framework of a South-South Cooperation project called “Strengthening School Food and Nutrition Programs in Africa”, this review process would allow for a better alignment of SHN related interventions together with another review of the social protection policy and that of the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach (ASWAP) in the country.

The project aims to review the national School, Health and Nutrition Strategic Plan by promoting an integrated approach where school meals procured from family famers, nutrition education and school gardens are combined in a cohesive effort to promote healthy life-long eating habits.

Integration of services and data usage to improve

Ms. Thokozile Banda, Chief Director for Basic and Secondary Education, states that this review process would improve integration of SHN services among the Ministries of Education; Health; Agriculture; Gender, Children, Social Welfare and Disability as well as the Department of Forestry.

“The review process will lead to efficiency and effectiveness in SHN programming and hence influence policy change,” she says.

While thanking the Government of Brazil for the financial and technical support provided through FAO, Ms. Banda notes that the review documents would assist the government in providing proper policy direction on SHN programming among various stakeholders.

Her comments come after a delegation from the Brazilian National Fund for School Development (FNDE) and FAO, met national coordinators of SHN and the national country project team (in May 2016) to provide technical assistance.

The meeting discussed and tested the methodology for the compilation of district and zone level information on current SHN interventions, as well as looked at emerging challenges and gaps.

During the first week of the visit, a Representative of FNDE - Ms. Cassia Amaral, delivered a presentation of the Brazilian school, food and nutrition model, while providing insightful comments on how to achieve sustainability and ownership of the program.

"The exchange between Malawi and Brazil allows Malawi to get a deep understanding of successful experiences and good practices that can help improve Malawi’s public policies to reduce poverty and malnutrition, as well as promote food and nutrition security. It is a time of mutual learning and sharing in which both countries review their practices in order to innovate and adapt them to different contexts" she explains.

The Director of Brazil’s International Cooperation -ABC, Ambassador João Almino, says Brazil feels greatly honoured to contribute to the improvement of the Malawi Government's actions in the area of School Health and Nutrition through the revision of its Implementation Strategy.

“We believe that the revised document, benefiting from the contributions of different national actors as well as international partners, will allow for more effective and coordinated activities that will bring about concrete results for children's lives in Malawi,” said Almino.

“The Brazilian Government praises the efforts of the Malawian Government to provide better health and nutrition services to school children and their families. As the Brazilian experience clearly shows, a strong political will to give priority to this crucial area for sustainable and equal development is a key factor for success.”

FAO’s School, Food and Nutrition specialist, Dr. Andrea PoloGalante, says the SHN document is an important strategic document to guide the government of Malawi to treat and prevent malnutrition in school age children.

“The SHN workshops we had in Malawi last month were a good opportunity to discuss with district level the challenges in the implementation of SHN activities and how they can resolve them,” states PoloGalante, while applauding the close collaboration among the players including the Governments of Brazil and Malawi.

About the project

Last year, the Government of Malawi, the Government of Brazil and FAO signed a trilateral agreement to strengthen school nutrition based on South-South principles. The Project: “Strengthening School Nutrition Programmes in Africa” has three main components including review of the School Health and Nutrition strategy, Nutrition Education and integration of Nutrition Education and School Gardens. The Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MoEST) through its Department of School Health, Nutrition, HIV and AIDS (SHNHA), is responsible for leading the implementation of the project in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development and Ministry of Health through the Department of Nutrition, HIV & AIDS (DNHA) is a cooperating partner. The project runs for 18 months from July 2015 to December 2016.

Related Links:

•  Improving School Nutrition to bolster learners’ performance and future families
•  Participatory nutrition education catalyst for dietary diversity

Contact:

Mike Chipalasa | Communications Officer - FAO Malawi | [email protected] | +265 888 715 385