ADRA Malawi in partnership with ADRA Denmark, with funding from Danida implemented an Integrated Health and Food Security (IHFS) from 2005 - 2008 in Mwanza and Neno districts of Malawi. Targeting 4,200 poor and vulnerable households affected by HIV/AIDS, the main objective of the project was to improve their general health and household self-sufficiency. This was to be achieved through four strategies aimed at strengthening vulnerable household food security, improving human nutrition and food utilisation, strengthening vulnerable household health and building the capacity of the communities sustain themselves and establish their own development agenda.
The project registered considerable success in the three years of implementation. By the end of the project, agricultural production among the targeted households increased by an average of 62.5% translating into an increase in household food availability. There was also a decrease in number of months that targeted households report food shortage from 8 to an average of 5 months. As household food production increased the average daily number of meals also increased from 1 to 2.5 between 2004/05 and 2007/08. In the same vein, the project made strides in increasing access to potable water and improving nutrition status of the vulnerable target households through trainings and counseling.
Drawing on lessons from this project a new intervention was designed and funded by ADRA Denmark and DANIDA, the RECAB project (Resilience and capacity building for vulnerable households and communities affected by HIV/AIDS) will focus on building household resilience to cope and recover from stress and shocks on their livelihood strategies.
Author: Thoko Mwapasa
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