IFPRI Malawi is pleased to announce the publication of a "Key Facts Sheet: Food and Nutrition Security," the second in a series that began with the a fact sheet on agriculture. The series is being produced using the third and fourth Integrated Household Surveys (IHS), the latter of which was undertaken in 2016/17. The series aims to synthesize nationally representative household survey data into easily digestible facts to inform key policy issues on agriculture, food systems, and development topics in Malawi.
Highlights from this Key Facts Sheet include:
- A dramatic decline in household food security status and households’ perception of their own food adequacy occurred between 2010/11 and 2016/17, such that more than half of households (61%) were defined as having “very low food security” in 2016/17.
- Households employed coping mechanisms to deal with food insecurity more frequently in 2016/17 than in 2010/11, primarily relying on less preferred or expensive foods, limiting portion sizes, and reducing the number of daily meals eaten daily.
- The percentage of households that reported consuming fish, meat, and pulses in the week prior to their interview declined between 2010/11 and 2016/17, suggesting reduced intake of protein-rich foods.
- While the prevalence of stunted children aged 6-59 months, a measure of chronic undernutrition, declined between 2010/11 and 2016/17, the percentage of children who were wasted or underweight increased.
Download the full "Key Facts Sheet: Food and Nutrition Security" here (718 KB).
