Combating Malnutrition at County Level

Malnutrition in Kenya  exists in different forms including acute malnutrition,, chronic under nutrition, micronutrient deficiency which primarily affect pregnant & lactating mothers and children under 5 years.

I have been looking at various documents that are being drawn up as plans by our counties as they  address various issues affecting their counties. Overall the plans are good even though generic and almost the same on most of the concepts. There are also very good strategies developed by the government that if implemented would go a long way reducing the chronic malnutrition including http://scalingupnutrition.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Kenya_KNN_Action-Plan_2012_2017.pdf

My major concern is that I have not seen any plan especially from regions that are mainly affected by malnutrition and have high levels of infant mortality, stunted growth as a result of lack of proper nutrition both for the mother and child that seeks to address the issues at probably early pregnancy stage and follow through after birth to ensure that the child gets the required nutrients and foods for  proper growth.

There has been good awareness on exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months for infants and this has its own great benefits, however given the lifestyle and the fact that most women have to work outside homes being bread winners then this becomes a challenge.

It is high time that counties in the most affected areas especially the arid districts come up with short term policies to address the high levels of malnutrition and long term policies including capacity building for their communities such that they are prepared well in advance to respond to the chronic crisis that is malnutrition.

What would you like to see your county do in terms of addressing issues around malnutrition? Lets engage.