SANI – Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia
Southern African Nutrition Initiative
Project snapshot:
- Project: Southern African Nutrition Initiative (SANI)
- Goal: To improve nutrition in women of reproductive age (15-49) and children under 5 years
- Target group: Poor, food-insecure women, girls, mothers, newborns and children
- Where: Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia
- Duration: 2016-2020 (4 years)
The situation
Malnutrition affects every stage of life and has severe consequences that can impact families and communities for generations. Malnourished women are more likely to die in childbirth and have low birth weight babies. And their babies are more vulnerable to disease and death.
Because of widespread malnutrition, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique continue to have some of the highest child mortality rates in the world. Under-nourishment during the first critical years of life reduces a child’s chance of survival and directly affects brain development.
Chronically-malnourished children suffer life-long consequences in cognitive ability, school performance and future earnings, limiting the development potential of nations.
Addressing malnutrition now could bring economic benefits over 100 times as large as the cost of interventions.
What we are doing
Malnutrition and its devastating consequences can be prevented. CARE’s comprehensive and evidence-based nutrition solutions work. The project is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.
The Southern African Nutrition Initiative (SANI) is designed to give women, families, and health providers the tools they need to end malnutrition in children under five and in pregnant and nursing women. The tools are simple and they work.
SANI will help achieve lasting change in the lives of beneficiaries by:
- Individual and group nutrition counselling for women and men
- Training health care workers to provide nutrition education for pregnant and nursing women and their families as well as children under five
- Providing therapeutic feeding to severely malnourished children
- Supporting community and backyard gardens by providing seeds, tools, equipment and training to produce a healthy and diverse range of food for families.
- Building wells and water systems in collaboration with community members to ensure safe access to clean drinking water
- Empowering women and expanding their economic opportunities through village savings and loans associations which strengthen women’s economic status and autonomy and their ability to generate an income
- Improving access to nutrition and psycho-social support for mothers and families living with HIV and AIDS
Learn more
- SANI Project Brief (PDF)
- Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Campaign (PDF)
- Microsite: Nutrition At The Centre In Zambia
- Feed Her Future Campaign
Project targets
- CARE aims to reach over 575,000 beneficiaries through this project in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, contributing to the reduction of under-nutrition in women and children
Fundraising goals
- CARE is seeking to raise $2.1 million from Canadians for this program.