Abstract

Food insecurity, malnutrition and poor health are major problems facing poor households in northern Malawi. The majority of Malawian households rely on domestic agricultural production for their food supply, but most of the soils require the addition of nitrogen to meet household needs. Organic matter technologies, such as intercropping grain legumes or perennial legumes, are promising nitrogen alternatives for resource-poor farmers. In addition, the grain legumes provide a nutritious alternative food source. The Primary Health Care (PHC) program of Ekwendeni Hospital is initiating an organic matter technology project to find out whether these technologies can improve household food security, nutrition and general health. Supported by an interdisciplinary team of researchers coordinated by PATH Canada and PHC, a team made up of resource-poor farmers from two pilot research zones will develop local indicators for health, food security and soil fertility. Using a participatory action research model, the team will receive training in organic matter technologies, visit farmers who are already using organic matter technologies, and design their own experimental trials. The trials will be monitored in terms of crop yields, soil fertility and farmer assessment. It is anticipated that the use of organic matter technologies will result in increased crop yields of both maize and grain legumes. What remains to be seen is whether increasing household food production will translate into greater food security and improved health and nutrition.

Post-Project Summary

PATH Canada devoted much time to building a strong research team. The Ekwendeni primary health care team learned new research skills and strengthened existing ones, such as workshop organizing, focus group facilitating, anthropometry, data management, survey finding interpretation, report writing, scientific presentation, etc. In addition, both the staff and the farmer research team received extensive training in organic matter technologies (OMT). The farmer researchers learned about legume options and began training other interested farmers. The Ekwendeni primary health care team organized at least three workshops per year on OMTs for farmers, plus three field days in the wider Ekwendeni catchment area. Six hundred farmers attended the first field day, 1 800 the second and 2 400 the third.

Between June 2000 and June 2004, researchers carried out 24 research activities, including focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, participatory mapping exercises, anthropometry, hemoglobin measurement and soil sampling, were carried out. The project began with a 30-member farmer research team selected by villagers in seven pilot villages. The farmer researchers were trained in trial design, research methods and action research. By the end of the project, the farmer research team consisted of 118 members for the whole catchment area. The project had a notable multiplier effect. Farmer researchers trained farmers in OMT. Participation in the OMT program increased steadily by the year: 183 farmers and seven village plots in 2000-2001; 456 farmers and 11 village plots in 2001-2002; 983 farmers and 48 village plots in 2002-2003; 1 700 farmers and 77 village plots in 2003-2004. By the end of the project, over 3 000 households were participating. Pigeon peas intercropped with groundnuts, and pigeon peas intercropped with soybeans were the preferred technologies. These resulted in significant soil improvement as well as increased food production.

The project findings were presented in a report for the Ministry of Agriculture and other interested agricultural research organizations, several articles accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals, and two presentations at the Ecohealth Forum held in Montreal in May 2003. Other outputs included village- and farm-level maps of resource use; characterization of intra- and inter-household relations that influence food security, childcare and health; information on health, dietary and micronutrient status; a participatory research method for developing local indicators of food security, health and soil fertility; and recommendations for improving food security and human health in resource-poor households. The research findings to date suggest that legume systems appear to improve soil fertility and provide an additional food crop. The project is having a measurable and marked effect on child health, and may also result in improved anthropometric status. Work continued in a second phase (101829).

Recipient Institution(s)