Papers by Dr Mangani Katundu
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
IntroductionExternal conditionalities have shaped public policy development in borrowing nations.... more IntroductionExternal conditionalities have shaped public policy development in borrowing nations. This has been through top-down policy support programs, an example being the policy reforms under the structural adjustment program. Under the seed sector reforms Malawi committed to the Southern Africa Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa harmonized seed regulations technical agreements.MethodsTo contribute to the debate, we analyzed the Malawi seed sector policy process by investigating three questions: What were the leading events? Who were the stakeholders involved, and their roles? Which factors influenced the policy process? Qualitative tools were employed based on policy process theory using the Kaleidoscope Model. We used stakeholder inception, planning, feedback workshops, and key informant interviews (N = 17). This data was complemented by grey literature as secondary information. Snowball sampling was used to identify key informant inter...
Environmental Development
Journal of Food Quality
Maize has been cultivated and continues to be cultivated for its usability in calorie supply to h... more Maize has been cultivated and continues to be cultivated for its usability in calorie supply to humans and livestock. There has been great interest in pigmented landrace maize varieties (PLMVs) due to their importance in the pharmaceutical industry. Landraces are to a large extent a repository of the gene pool that enriches biodiversity and maintains but also stabilizes the ecosystem in a sustainable way. PLMVs are still being cultivated by smallholder farmers in smaller portions of their fields and home surroundings despite the high adoption of white hybrid maize. This study examined the ash, moisture, mineral, crude protein, fat, and carbohydrate content of three different PLMVs from central (Ntcheu and Dedza districts) and northern (Mzimba district) Malawi. The mineral content of soils from fields where PLMVs were grown was also analyzed. The study areas experience a warm temperate climate and higher rainfall in summer than in winter but they differ in that Ntcheu has the highest...
Journal of Science and Technology
Maize is one of the most diverse cereal crops that contribute highly in calorie supply to human d... more Maize is one of the most diverse cereal crops that contribute highly in calorie supply to human diet. Pigmented maize secondary metabolites which are phytochemicals of healthy importance include carotenoids and phenolics which act as precursors of vitamin A and antioxidants respectively. Pigmented landrace maize is cultivated by smallholder farmers in their localities. Three different pigmented maize varieties from different growing districts were analysed for total carotenoids content (TCC) and total phenolic content (TPC), using spectrophotometer. The districts experience a warm temperate climate and higher rainfall in summer than in winter but they differ in that Ntcheu has highest average annual temperature of 20.3°C while Dedza receives the highest annual precipitation of about 1010 mm. Mzimba has an average annual temperature of 20.1°C and receives about 915 mm of precipitation annually. Individual carotenoids were analysed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). ...
INNOVAFRICA, Jul 1, 2018
Technical ReportThe first part of this report gives an overview of the state of agriculture and f... more Technical ReportThe first part of this report gives an overview of the state of agriculture and food and nutrition security (FNS) challenges for Africa in general and in particular for sub saharan Africa (SSA). Further, the report briefly assessed the general performance of the four dimensions of FNS in SSA. It also outlines the policy responses and programmes by the African governments towards achieving FNS. This was followed by describing the concept of various forms of sustainable intensification systems including the sustainable agriculture intensification systems (SAIs), agriculture extension and advisory services (EASs) and innovative institutional approaches (IIAs). In general, Part I of this report reviews the various agriculture technologies, extension and institutions approaches implemented and promoted in the past and present in Africa and other relevant regions of the world. A detailed descriptions is provided in the second part of this report by six case study countries of the InnovAfrica project.European Commissio
World Development Perspectives
We analyse household resilience capacities in the fishing communities along Lake Malawi by using ... more We analyse household resilience capacities in the fishing communities along Lake Malawi by using FAO's resilience index measurement assessment (RIMA) methodology during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study is based on a sample of 400 households, and we employ the multiple indicators multiple causes (MIMIC) model to estimate resilience capacities. The model uses household food security indicators as development outcomes. Our findings show that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduces household food security and resilience capacity. Significant COVID-19 shocks that significantly reduce household resilience capacities are death and illness of a household member. These findings point to the need to build assets of the households, build their adaptive capacity, and identify innovative ways of improving access to basic services to build household resilience capacities in the fishing communities. We recommend providing external support to households that have been directly affected by the pandemic through the death or illness of a member because their capacities to bounce back on their own significantly declines.
Food Security, 2021
Malnutrition is a leading cause of death and disability among children in low-income countries. N... more Malnutrition is a leading cause of death and disability among children in low-income countries. Nutrition-sensitive interventions show promise in increasing food access and improving diets. There are possible synergies of integrating these programs with other sectors, improving effectiveness by leveraging resources. However, economic evaluations of these multi-sectoral programs are limited. We aimed to estimate the cost efficiency, cost-effectiveness, benefit-cost ratio, and net benefit of using community-based early childhood development (ECD) centers as platforms for an intervention promoting agricultural production and nutrition among households with young children in Malawi. The intervention was costed using bottom-up micro-costing and top-down expenditure analysis with a societal perspective and a 12-month horizon. Effectiveness estimates were derived from a cluster-randomized control trial. Premature deaths and stunting cases averted were estimated using the Lived Saved Tool. ...
In the Barotse floodplain (Zambia) and the Lake Chilwa basin (Malawi) such issues have resulted i... more In the Barotse floodplain (Zambia) and the Lake Chilwa basin (Malawi) such issues have resulted in substantial economic losses, reduced fish nutrient content, and unfair distribution of benefits among women and men. Both areas depend heavily on fish for income, food and nutrition. However, they differ in fish value chain structure, post-harvest technologies, and social and cultural contexts, offering strong opportunities to learn what works in reducing loss and achieving equitable benefit sharing in the fisheries value chain.
International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 2021
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 2020
population derived from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Study particip... more population derived from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Study participants surveyed for sodium intake (mg/day) and physical examinations were conducted where systolic and diastolic BP were recorded. Inclusion criteria included adults age 18-55 years. Our dataset contained 29,404 participants; of these, 11,441 participants met our inclusion criteria and constitute our study sample (2,424 missing data). Amongst these, 5,529 (48.33%) were men and 5,912 (51.67%) were women. In our study sample, the mean age was 35.90 (SD = 11.25). Our study sample constituted 16.05% Mexican Americans, 9.92% other Hispanics, 38.60% Non-Hispanic White, 21.70% Non-Hispanic Black, and 13.73% other Raceincluding Multi-Racial. Measurable Outcome/Analysis: Exposure variable is the consumption of sodium (mg per day). Outcome measure is average systolic and diastolic BP results collected from participants. Spearman Correlation along with regression analysis to quantitatively define the strength of association between sodium consumption vs systolic and diastolic BP.
International Journal of Marine Science, 2018
This study assessed the effects of two processing methods; open sun drying and solar tent drying ... more This study assessed the effects of two processing methods; open sun drying and solar tent drying on microbial quality of Barbus paludinosus, (straight fin barb locally known as Matemba), a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae that supports a significant fishery sector in Malawi. Barbus paludinosus (Matemba) were dried using open sun drying and solar tent driers. Samples were collected in newly bought polythene bags, well labelled and collected in cooler boxes transported ready for laboratory analysis. One gram (1 g) representative sample was obtained aseptically from the muscle of the fresh and dried straight fin barb (Matemba) samples. The samples were grounded and serial dilutions (10-1 to 10-4) of the homogenized samples were made using sterile distilled water. Fish samples were analysed for total plate count (TPC), E. coli counts and for pathogenic organisms (Salmonella) following the methods prescribed by (AOAC, 2000). Each analysis was carried out in triplicates. There were significant differences (P < 0.05), with respect to total viable bacterial counts between open sun dried and solar tent dried B. paludinosus (1.6 x 10 6 cfu/g, 1.4 x 10 6 cfu/g, respectively). Open sun dried B. paludinosus harboured significantly higher total viable counts as well as a higher population of Escherichia coli compared to solar tent dried Barbus paludinosus. Overall, bacterial populations were not above the marginally acceptable norms (1 x 10 7 cfu/g) for both processing methods implying that the two methods can be deployable without public health concerns.
The Journal of Nutrition, 2018
Background: Children in Malawi face nutritional risks related to low-quality diets and chronic ma... more Background: Children in Malawi face nutritional risks related to low-quality diets and chronic malnutrition. Objective: This study evaluated the impact of a 1-y early childhood development (ECD) center-based agriculture and nutrition intervention aimed at improving household production diversity, maternal knowledge on child nutrition and feeding practices, and children's diets and anthropometric measures. Methods: A longitudinal cluster-randomized controlled trial was implemented in 60 community-based childcare centers (CBCCs), covering 1248 preschool children (aged 36-72 mo) and 304 younger siblings (aged 6-24 mo). CBCCs were randomly assigned to 1) a control group providing the Save the Children's ECD program or 2) a treatment group providing a standard ECD program with additional activities to improve nutritious food production and behavior change communication to improve diets and care practices for young children. Primary outcomes were household production and production diversity, preschooler enrollment and attendance, and dietary intake measured by quantitative 24-h recall and minimum diet diversity for younger siblings. Secondary outcomes included anthropometric measures for preschoolers and younger siblings, child development scores for preschoolers, and women's asset ownership and time use (the latter 2 are not discussed in this article). We used difference-indifference (DID) estimates to assess impacts. Results: Compared with the control group, preschool children in the intervention group had greater increases in nutrient intakes and in dietary diversity. No impacts on anthropometric measures were seen in preschoolers. Younger siblings in the intervention group had greater increases in height-forage z scores than did children in the control group (DID: 0.44; P < 0.05) and greater reductions in the prevalence of stunting (DID:-17 percentage points; P < 0.05). The plausibility of the impact on growth in younger siblings was supported by effects along program impact pathways, including production of nutritious foods, caregiver knowledge, and dietary diversity. Conclusion: Implementing an integrated agriculture and nutrition intervention through an ECD platform benefited children's diets and reduced stunting among younger siblings of targeted preschoolers. This trial was registered on the ISRCTN registry as ISCRCTN96497560.
The Journal of Nutrition, 2019
Background Young children in Malawi consume low-quality diets lacking micronutrients critical for... more Background Young children in Malawi consume low-quality diets lacking micronutrients critical for their development. Objective To evaluate the impact of an agriculture and nutrition behavior change communication (BCC) intervention implemented through community-based childcare centers on the nutrient adequacy of diets of children living in food-insecure settings in Malawi. Methods A cluster randomized trial was undertaken in 60 community-based childcare centers, including 1248 children aged 3–6 y. Nutrient intakes were estimated using interactive, multipass 24-h recall. Dietary adequacy was estimated through the probability of adequacy (PA) and mean probability of adequacy (MPA) of 11 micronutrients. Impacts were assessed by difference-in-difference (DID) estimates, adjusted for geographic clustering and child age and sex. Results Intervention groups were similar for most baseline characteristics. Loss to follow-up was low (7% over a 12-mo period) and participation in the interventio...
Food Chemistry, 2019
This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service... more This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
Food Science & Nutrition, 2018
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which... more This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Papers by Dr Mangani Katundu