Community Nutrition Centers are a game changer

Established as part of the AFAFI-North Program, the Community Nutrition Centers strengthen efforts to combat the scourge of malnutrition.

36%, 31% and 22%. These are respectively the prevalence rates of malnutrition in the Analanjirofo, Sava and Diana regions. However, these have high potential in terms of development. The Community Nutrition Centers were created, as part of the AFAFI-North program, in the spirit of promoting human capital. This, to the extent that the said centers which are implemented in the fokontany and municipalities of the regions, constitute a tool for surveillance and monitoring of the nutritional state of children under five years old and pregnant women. To this end, the centers provide data relating to the malnutrition situation in the locality. All this while offering medical care and services as well as nutritional advice. Forty community nutrition centers are expected to be set up by the AFAFI North program in the Analanjirofo region. The participation of community awareness agents constitutes an important asset in the success of control initiatives.

Systemic. Making the fight against malnutrition its core business, the AFAFI-Nord program, funded by the European Union, aims to be a multidimensional program. The idea is not only to focus on nutrition but to respond to different themes. Among other things, the management of irrigated areas, the protection of watersheds (or how to tackle the fight against malnutrition by taking into account the issues of deforestation) and finally the development of irrigated areas. Various stakeholders come together in the implementation of activities in order to have better results. After five years of implementation, the program is bearing fruit. The machine is launched and the results are already there, it was announced on the sidelines of a press lunch relating to the launch of a communication campaign on the results of the AFAFI-Nord program in Anosy last Tuesday.

José Belalahy