A Consortium of Civil Society Organizations has called on Parliament to table and pass the Food and Nutrition Bill in the upcoming meeting starting from 14th November to 16th December.
The Organizations; Oxfam, Civil Society Organisations Nutrition Alliance (CSONA), Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA), and Malawi Volunteer Organisation have committed to provide necessary technical support to facilitate the tabling and passing of the Bill.
In a Statement signed by the CSOs, they indicate that, “A legislation on Right to Food and Nutrition would be a key legal instrument that would help address some of the challenges the country is facing in as far as food and nutrition are concerned.”
It further indicates that the bill, which in Malawi has been under deliberations since 2003, guarantees the right to adequate food and nutrition for everyone.
“If passed into a law, this piece of legislation has provisions that will make it mandatory for all food
producers involved in processing, manufacturing and pre-packaging to label their products so that
people know what they are consuming. This will ensure that the food market at all level is only selling foods that will contribute to healthy living of its consumers and that failure to do so will attract a jail sentence or fine for the offender,” reads the Statement.
The Statement has also added that, “Malawi is experiencing different forms of nutrition challenges including high rise of obesity especially in women which is currently standing at 36%. This is exposing thousands of people to risks of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular conditions, which are estimated to account for 32% of total deaths in Malawi (WHO 2018). Statistics also show that stunting is at 36% and the country has poor infant and young child feeding practices with only 8% of children’s population aged 6-23 months meeting their minimum acceptable diet, so yes we need this Bill passed”.
Lingalireni Mihowa, Oxfam’s country representative has told MIJ Online that the draft law also provides for the establishment of Food and Nutrition Council whose functions will include promoting the respect for the right to food and adequate nutrition.
Meanwhile Speaker of the National Assembly Catherine Gotani Hara has asked for more time to check if the Bill has already been brought to Parliament.
