MUMBWA District Commissioner Sunday Shamabanse has observed that 50 percent of children in the district are stunted due to malnutrition.
Mr. Shamabanse says poor nutrition in the District was resulting in children mostly under fives to grow stunted.
He said lack of good nutrition in early childhood results in poor cognitive development and that it is a fundamental driver of poverty and inequality.
ZANIS reports that the District Commissioner said this when he officiated at the Global Day of Action over the weekend and organized by Zambia Civil Society Organisation [CSO] Sun Alliance in Mumbwa District, today.
He revealed that to address this problem, government was in the processes of adopting key recommendations forwarded by civil society organizations so that all Zambian children can see their rights to adequate nutrition.
He added that government has more political will than ever before to tackle malnutrition which causes millions of people each year to die or suffer from lifelong consequences.
Mr. Shamabanse was however happy that Mumbwa has developed a multisectoral plan for scaling up nutrition through a concerted efforts of both government and civil society organizations in the district through the support from National Food and Nutrition Commission.
And speaking at the same function CSO Sun Alliance Chairperson Kenneth Ludaka said the first 1000 days in human growth was human growth from pregnancy to two years was very critical as over 3 million women and children die of malnutrition every year.
Mr. Ludaka added that if the trend is reversed, it could boost the economic growth by as much as 3-11 percent GDP.
Photo credit – ChildFund International
this is due 2 the high cost of livng in our country