FANTA began to provide in-country technical assistance to the Malawi Ministry of Health (MOH), Department of Nutrition, HIV/AIDS (DNHA), USAID, and partners in October 2013. Since then, FANTA has strengthened national-level policies and strategies for community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM); integrated nutrition care, support, and treatment (NCST) as part of HIV and TB care and treatment; developed CMAM and NCST technical tools such as guidelines, job aids, and training materials; and built competencies of managers and service providers to implement CMAM and NCST services. Additionally, FANTA supported the MOH and DNHA to develop the National Multi-Sector Nutrition Policy 2018–2021, the National Multi-Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan 2018–2021, a costed national CMAM and NCST operational plan, and initiated the institutionalization of the Nutrition Society of Malawi.
FANTA and its partners undertook several research studies on the effects of lipid-based nutrient supplementation on maternal and child nutrition; using eye tracking to measure cognitive function in infants; and, using mid-upper arm circumference as a discharge criterion for children in CMAM programs.
FANTA’s activities in Malawi included:
Strengthen and improve national multisectoral nutrition policies and strategies
- National Guidelines for Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition
- National Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition Operational Plan for 2017–2021
- Malawi National Multi-Sector Nutrition Policy 2018-2022
- Malawi National Multi-Sector Strategic Plan 2018-2022
- National Guidelines on Nutrition Care, Support, and Treatment for Adolescents and Adults, Second Edition
- National Nutrition Care, Support, and Treatment Operational Plan 2018-2022
- Improving Pre-Service Nutrition Education and Training of Frontline Health Care Providers
Integrate and scale up NCST within HIV and TB care and treatment
- Nutrition Care, Support, and Treatment for Adolescents and Adults: Training Materials for Facility-Based Service Providers
- Nutrition Care, Support, and Treatment (NCST) Counselling and Education Flipcharts
- Using Quality Improvement to Strengthen Nutrition Services in Malawi
Improve the quality of CMAM service delivery
- National Guidelines for Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition
- National Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition Operational Plan for 2017–2021
- Monitoring and Reporting Tools
- Training Course on Inpatient Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition
- Training Course on Inpatient Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition for Home-Craft Workers
- Applying the Model for Improvement to Strengthen the Care for Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Medical Complications in Malawi
Nutrition Society of Malawi
Research Activities
FANTA also worked with its partners on the following research activities:
- Integrating Family Planning into Development Food Security Activities: Formative Research with the Njira Project in Malawi
- The Impact of a Promising Prenatal Health Intervention on Children’s Mortality, Morbidity, Growth, and Development in Rural Malawi
- Assessing the Feasibility and Validity of Using Eye Tracking to Study Infants’ Cognitive Function in Rural Malawi
- Effectiveness of Dietary Interventions During Pregnancy in Malawi
- Effectiveness of a Package of Interventions for Sustaining Nutritional Status among Children Recently Recovered from Moderate Acute Malnutrition
- Testing the Growth Promoting Effect of Long-Term Complementary Feeding of Infants with a High-Energy, Micronutrient Fortified Spread
- Clinical Trial Evaluating the Need for Routine Antibiotics as Part of the Outpatient Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition
- Safety of Using Mid-Upper Arm Circumference as a Discharge Criterion in Community-Based Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Children 6–59 Months of Age
- Efficacy of lipid-based nutrient supplements during pregnancy in Malawi
- Interventions to effectively treat moderate acute malnutrition among HIV-positive and HIV-negative women during pregnancy
