Preventing malnutrition is a key priority of the Government of Mozambique. The Government has taken a multifaceted approach to providing critical nutrition services to the general population, with a special focus on children in the first 2 years of life, women of reproductive age before and during pregnancy and lactation, adolescent girls 10–19 years of age, and people living with HIV and/or tuberculosis. As a signatory of the Scaling Up Nutrition movement, the national government ratified high-level commitments and has enacted a multisectoral action plan that engages various ministries in the effort to reduce chronic undernutrition and significantly improve maternal and child survival.
To assist Mozambique in reaching its nutrition goals, FANTA’s activities included:
- Strengthening nutrition counseling, assessment, and support services through the national Nutrition Rehabilitation Program (Programa de Reabilitação Nutricional [PRN]), including technical assistance at the national level with the Ministry of Health and at the provincial, district, and health center levels in the provinces of Nampula and Zambézia
- Strengthening the integration and improvement of health-facility and community-level counseling activities to improve nutrition practices among people living with HIV and/or tuberculosis by developing nutrition counseling materials for people living with HIV and/or TB
- Coordinating the Partnership for HIV-Free Survival in Mozambique to support national plans to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and to improve health center performance in this area
- Strengthening the Ministry of Health’s efforts to establish a more robust national nutrition surveillance program
- Supporting the Ministry of Health to improve other programs for maternal and child health and nutrition, including:
- Development of growth charts and tables for healthcare providers working with children and adolescents
- Development of a national policy, national strategy, and job aids on infant and young child feeding
- Development of the national Strategy for Social and Behavior Change Communication for the Prevention of Malnutrition
- Support to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative
- Development and implementation of systems and tools to improve the quality of nutrition services
- Support to community-based projects to promote healthy and nutritious diets and nutrition-related best practices
Learn more about FANTA's work in Mozambique by reading the success stories and the final report.
