Seasonal food availability calendars and dietary patterns for Dedza and Balaka districts: A comparative study

Child undernutrition continues to be a big challenge in Malawi and poor dietary patterns due to seasonal food shortages is among the causes of undernutrition. To address the issue, household guidance on seasonal recipes through seasonal food availability calendar has proved to be essential. This study aimed to determine seasonal food availability patterns and how it relates to dietary patterns for pregnant or lactating women and children aged between 12 and 23 months in Dedza and Balaka districts of Malawi. A 179 item food frequency questionnaire was used to collect data and Principal component analysis was used to derive dietary patterns for 160 pregnant or lactating women and children between 12 and 23 months. Household surveys conducted in 3 and 2 Extension planning areas of Dedza and Balaka respectively were used to develop seasonal food availability calendars. The cool dry winter season, which is also the harvest period had more foods available than the warm wet season and the hot dry season. The diets were generally composed of foods that were locally available in the areas, although a diet comprising of foods from the six food groups of Malawi (A recommended diet for Malawians including pregnant and lactating women and under five children) was not observed among the population under study. In Balaka, 5 key dietary patterns were observed in the warm wet and cool dry winter season and 7 key dietary patterns were observed in the hot dry season. In Dedza 6, 7 and 5 key dietary patterns were observed in warm wet season, cool dry winter season and hot dry season respectively. There is need for behavior change interventions to emphasize consumption of diets composed of the six food groups, promotion of food preservation and storage techniques and irrigated horticultural production to ensure year round food availability.