Fighting against malnutrition in Mwenga territory

Months ago, Christine Bitangalo has got used to the same ritual before starting her day. Once she wakes up, Christine goes to her little loam kitchen, lights the woodfire and cooks rich and nutritive porridge, a helpful and compulsory ally for the health of this woman whose pregnancy just reached six months.

As her pregnancy reached its third month, Christine felt something different from her prior pregnancies. "I couldn’t feel my baby move in my belly," the mother recalls. Worried, Christine went to an antenatal consultation at the nearby health centre. Medical teams told her that she only weighed 50 kilos and was suffering from malnutrition. "That worried me," says Christine, who was quickly taken care of.

When she was diagnosed, Christine immediately received necessary ingredients in order to cook her energetic porridge. Made of maize flour, soya and sorghum, the porridge can be consumed besides the usual meals. "I was weighing 50 kilos before but now I gained 10 more kilos thanks to this porridge that I consume every single day," says Christine whose awareness was also raised for good alimentary practices.

A poorly diversified diet and low nutritional quality of the mother can have consequences on the development of the baby. To help Christine carry on making use of some advice she was given on the long term, she received materials and seeds in order to cultivate her little farm. "Today, I know that vegetables are very important for a good feeding of a pregnant woman and the growth of the baby that I carry."

Since 2018, with the support of Federal German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), UNICEF, WFP and FAO strengthen the resilience in fragile communities in North-Kivu and South-Kivu provinces. UNICEF, WFP and FAO work together to relaunch agricultural production and basic products markets, fight against food insecurity, grow access to credit, improve infrastructures in the community and promote peacebuilding.