THE SILENT EMERGENCY: Battling child malnutrition in post-disaster Phalombe

In the vast, sun-scorched lands of Phalombe, where the whisper of wind carries stories of survival and loss, hunger has taken root—not just as a lack of food but as a persistent, invisible plague gnawing at the lives of children.

More than three decades after the infamous 1991 floods, known locally as Napolo, the people of Phalombe still battle nature’s wrath. Disasters are no longer rare; they are seasonal intruders now, fuelled by a changing climate.

In recent years, back-to-back calamities, Tropical Cyclone Freddy and the El Niño-induced drought, have devastated the region’s crops, destroyed livelihoods, and triggered a humanitarian crisis of underreported proportions: child malnutrition.

At Mwanga Health Centre in Phalombe North Constituency under Traditional Authority Jenala, the toll is visibly etched on the bodies of infants and the worry-lined faces of young mothers.

Tuesday mornings bring a steady flow of mothers cradling frail toddlers, seeking relief, hope, and healing from a relentless enemy.

A Mother’s Silent Struggle

Mary Sapeza, only 21, arrives from Kwatani Village holding her 10-month-old daughter. Two months earlier, her child weighed 6.2 kilograms—a healthy weight for her age.

But in late June, the baby’s weight dropped drastically due to food shortages in their household.

“We only harvested two bags of maize, which lasted until May,” Sapeza says, shifting uneasily on the bench. “Since then, I’ve been doing ganyu (piece work) just to buy nsima and salt.”

Doctors placed the child on a supplementary feeding program with likuni phala (fortified porridge). The intervention worked. Today, her daughter weighs 7.5 kilograms.

“I was afraid I would lose her,” Sapeza whispers. “But the food helped. Her weight is picking up again. I now have hope.”

Beatrice Muchiri, 25, shares a similar ordeal. Her once energetic 19-month-old daughter showed signs of wasting—sunken cheeks and listless eyes—shortly after their maize harvest completely failed.

“My mother gave us 50kg of maize,” Muchiri recounts. “It ran out in April. Since then, life has been survival of the fittest.”

When she brought the child to the clinic in June, she was placed on chiponde (therapeutic peanut paste). “Her weight is picking up now,” she smiles faintly.

A Community in Crisis

These stories are no exception. They are the rule in Phalombe, where nutrition officers report rising numbers of severely undernourished children. The district’s Chief Nutrition, HIV, and AIDS Officer, Lucy Ndiwo, calls the situation alarming.

“Phalombe is prone to both floods and droughts. Every year, these disasters leave families food-insecure,” she says. “This has a direct impact on nutrition. When families don’t harvest enough, children suffer first.”

According to Ndiwo, malnutrition among pregnant and breastfeeding women currently stands at 4%, while among children it is 2%.

Although lower than the 2023 peak when Cyclone Freddy pushed the numbers higher, the figures remain a serious concern.

What’s saving lives now, she says, is the Supplementary Feeding Programme (SFP) by the World Food Programme (WFP), which delivers targeted nutrition support in the form of likuni phala, chiponde, and other essential rations.

Beyond food, the district is promoting backyard gardening, irrigation farming (despite water scarcity), and small-scale livestock rearing to increase household nutrition resilience.

The Bigger Picture

Nationally, Malawi’s nutrition crisis is deepening. The 2024 Nutrition SMART Survey revealed that the country’s combined Global Acute Malnutrition (cGAM) rate has doubled from 2.2% in 2020 to 4.4% in 2024. Some districts are recording rates as high as 7.3%.

The 2024 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) paints an even starker picture: 38.7% of children under five are stunted, 10% are underweight, and 2% are wasted.

Malnutrition doesn’t just threaten survival—it robs futures. Stunted children complete 1.5 fewer years of education on average and are more likely to drop out of school, perpetuating a cycle of poverty.

This nutritional crisis has been worsened by the El Niño drought, which slashed national maize production by 44%. Vulnerable populations—children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and those with HIV or tuberculosis—bear the brunt of the crisis.

Hope from Global Solidarity

In response, the WFP is implementing supplementary feeding programs across seven high-risk districts: Balaka, Chikwawa, Machinga, Mangochi, Nsanje, Phalombe, and Zomba.

The initiative is supported by funding from the governments of Norway and Iceland, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and UKaid.

United Nations Resident Coordinator Rebecca Adda-Dontoh reaffirmed the UN’s support for Malawi’s development agenda, especially under the Malawi 2063 Vision and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Malnutrition affects not just health, but also education and long-term productivity,” she noted. “Without a healthy population, sustainable development is impossible.”

She called on health workers to remain committed and urged continued investment in human capital.

“We are not going anywhere,” Adda-Dontoh said. “We are renewing our commitment to stand with Malawi, not just in health, but across agriculture, food systems, and education.”

Aligning With the SDGs

The fight against malnutrition in Malawi intersects directly with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), which aims to end hunger and ensure access to nutritious food; SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), focused on reducing child and maternal mortality.

SDG 1 (No Poverty), which addresses the root causes of food insecurity; SDG 13 (Climate Action), calling for resilience in the face of climate-induced disasters; and SDG 4 (Quality Education), which recognizes the critical role nutrition plays in cognitive development and school performance.

Conclusion: The Hunger That Hurts the Most

Malnutrition isn’t always visible. It doesn’t scream like hunger or announce itself with breaking news. But it is there—quietly stunting, silently killing, and slowly stealing potential from the most innocent.

In Phalombe and other districts like it, humanitarian efforts are helping reverse the tide, but the battle is far from over.

With climate change intensifying and economic shocks deepening, Malawi must treat nutrition not as a temporary crisis but as a national emergency, one that demands sustained investment, smart policy, and cross-sector collaboration.

Because at the end of the day, it is not just about food. It is about giving every child the chance to grow, learn, and thrive.

So the question is: If we don’t fight for their future now, who will?

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