Emergency Relief and Development Overseas is supporting Children of Blessing Trust (COBT) with a three-year nutrition project in Lilongwe and Dowa District, Malawi.
Malnutrition continues to be a persistent public health and development challenge in Malawi. The causes of malnutrition include high levels of poverty and general food insecurity, decreased crop production due to climate change and the impacts of COVID-19 that have resulted in lost jobs and lower income levels. HIV and other diseases are also a major contributing factor for poor nutrition. Children with special needs are especially susceptible to health risks and generally have very poor nutrition.
Over three years, COBT will work with children with special needs to increase nutrition outcomes by screening children for mild, moderate or severe malnutrition and providing supplementary food and when needed therapeutic nutritional products to children identified with these conditions. COBT will also provide malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding mothers with supplementary foods.
COBT aims to reach 690 people annually. This intervention is supplementing a larger health program that COBT is currently implementing.