gender mainstreaming in Malawi’s nutrition policy

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Background and rationale

Malawi is a signatory to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (United Nations (UN), 1995) and was one of the first countries to domesticate this agreement. For example, the Malawi Platform for Action was established in 1996. In maternal and child health, efforts have been made to include men. Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are some of the countries that have made progress in including men in maternal and child health programmes. Several studies suggest that Malawi has been actively promoting men’s involvement in maternal and child health programmes for the past seven years (Kululanga et al., 2012 and Nyondo et al., 2014). The impact of these programmes on gender equality is not clear. It is also unclear how nutrition policies integrate men’s involvement in maternal and child nutrition.
Nutrition is a central component of maternal and child health. Integrating gender in policy is fundamental to achieving positive nutrition outcomes (Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), 1992; FAO and World Health Organisation (WHO), 2014). However, policymakers’ interpretations of gender often distort policy choices (Rao and Kellner, 2003). For example, nutrition policies typically emphasise the role of women, because policymaker’s gendered frames of reference often associate the responsibility for child nutrition with women. Such policies can overlook the gendered dynamics that constrain men and women’s access to nutritious food. While women do indeed play an important role in household and child nutrition, they often have limited control over the resources required to access nutritious food (Richards et al., 2013).
Men, who are often the primary decision-makers in the household are typically excluded from maternal and child nutrition policies (Chant and Gutmann, 2002). By focusing on women, these policies are often mistakenly considered to be gender-sensitive (Cornwall, 2000; Rae, 2008). However, by definition, gender encompasses the roles of both men and women and gender equality involves the dynamic relationship between the two sexes (Moser, 1993). Both gender equality and improved nutrition are development priorities as reflected in several international, continental and regional commitments. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outline 17 key priorities that countries have undertaken to achieve by 2030. SDG two, in particular, commits countries to end hunger and malnutrition and promote agriculture (United Nations (UN), 2016).
In Africa, the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods contains commitments to improve nutrition through specific food security and nutrition targets (African Union Commission (AUC), 2014). Access to food is a fundamental human right (UN, 1948). Access to food refers to a household’s ability to obtain food from the market place or other sources (WFP, 2007). However, the rationale for state investment in nutrition often requires evidence of the economic returns (Hoddinott et al., 2013). Nutrition is the process through which nutrients are obtained, absorbed by the used to support how the body functions (Zimmerman and Snow, 2012). Nutrition is essential for child growth and development.
Malnutrition has implications for economic development as well as investment in public health. Malnutrition is a deficiency of nutrients and can refer to both overweight and under-nutrition. Under- nutrition is a condition that results from inadequate intake of food that provides energy or nutrients (Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Food Program, 2007). Undernutrition is a contributor towards early child mortality (Hoddinott, 2013). Undernutrition in infants increases the risk of chronic disease in adulthood, which increases the burden on the state as it has implications for the public health system (Hoddinott et al., 2013). Regarding economic development, a large body of evidence reports a negative correlation between undernutrition and lifetime earnings. Up to 10% or more of lifetime earnings in low-income countries are lost because of undernutrition (Haddad and Bouis, 1991; Strauss and Thomas, 1997; Hoddinott et al., 2013). Also, productivity losses due to undernutrition account for 3 – 16% loss in gross domestic product (Hoddinott, 2016). The intersections between gender and nutrition have important implications for economic development.

Statement of the problem

Gender inequality is an underlying cause of undernutrition (FAO, 2012). Applying a gender lens is important for ensuring that gender is adequately and appropriately integrated in public policies. Gender mainstreaming is the process through which a gender equality perspective is included in all areas of development including policies and at all levels of policy (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1997). Mainstreaming gender into policies implies more than simply focussing on women. Development programmes often focus on women, overlooking the important role men can play, not only in ensuring positive child nutrition outcomes. The omission of men reinforces gender inequality. Public policies can make men aware of their caring responsibilities, but they can also help deconstruct systematically entrenched gender roles. Policy can assist in (re)defining roles by promoting a conducive environment for men’s participation in maternal and child health (Kabeer, 1996).

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• Chapter 1 : Introduction
  • 1.1. Background and rationale
  • 1.2. Statement of the problem
  • 1.3. The need to accelerate progress on nutrition in Malawi
  • 1.4. Research objectives
  • 1.5. De-limitations
  • 1.6. Contribution to knowledge
  • 1.7. Thesis outline
• Chapter 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW
  • 2.1. Introduction
  • 2.2. Gender equality as a development priority
  • 2.3. Nutrition as a development priority
  • 2.4. Gender divisions of labour: Care work, housework, farm work and income-generating
    • 2.4.1. Gender inequalities and nutrition
    • 2.4.2. Gender equality and work associated with men
  • 2.5. Social and cultural institutions: Policymaker’s gendered frames of reference
  • 2.6. Research gap
  • 2.7. Synopsis
• Chapter 3 : Setting the scene – gender mainstreaming in Malawi’s nutrition policy
  • 3.1. Introduction
  • 3.2. Gender mainstreaming and nutrition policy in Malawi
  • 3.3. Nutrition policy
  • 3.4. Understanding how men’s involvement emerged on the policy agenda in Malawi
  • 3.5. Synopsis
• Chapter 4 : A gender assessment of Malawi’s National Nutrition Policy and Strategic Plan 2007 –
  • 4.1. Introduction
  • 4.2. Mainstreaming men into gender policy
  • 4.3. Food security and nutrition with regards to women in Malawi
  • 4.4. Research methodology
    • 4.4.1. WHO Gender Assessment Tool
    • 4.4.2. FAO Gender Mainstreaming and Nutrition Framework
    • 4.4.3. Policy chronology
  • 4.5. Applying the integrated framework for gender analysis in nutrition policy
  • 4.5.1. An overview of Malawi’s NNPSP
  • 4.6. Results and discussion
    • 4.6.1. Preliminary observations
    • 4.6.2. Findings from the individual tools
    • 4.6.3 Outcomes of the analysis of the integrated framework
  • 4.7. Conclusion and policy recommendations
• Chapter 5 : A qualitative analysis of men’s involvement in maternal and child health as a policy intervention in rural Central Malawi
  • 5.1. Background
  • 5.1.1. Men’s involvement in maternal and child health
  • 5.1.2. The role of tradition leaders in afe motherhood in Malawi
  • 5.1.3. Study location
  • 5.2. Methodology
    • 5.2.1. Study design
    • 5.2.2. Focus group discussions
    • 5.2.3. Individual interviews
    • 5.2.4. Data analysis
  • 5.3. Results
    • 5.3.1. Facilitators of men’s involvement
    • 5.3.2. Barriers to men’s involvement
    • 5.3.3. Limitations to men’s involvement
  • 5.4. Discussion
  • 5.5. Conclusion and recommendations
• Chapter 6 : VALIDATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS USING A POLICY DIALOGUE
  • 6.1. Introduction
  • 6.2. Validating the research findings
  • 6.3. Validation method
  • 6.4. Validating research findings from Chapter 4 and assessing gender in the forthcoming National Nutrition Policy
  • 6.5. Validating the research findings from Chapter
  • 6.5.1. Recommendations for the draft policy
  • 6.6. Participants’ comments on the integrated framework for gender analysis of nutrition policy
  • 6.7. Researcher insights from the policy dialogue
  • 6.8. Synopsis
• Chapter 7 : Conclusions and recommendations
  • 7.1. Synopsis
  • 7.2. Conclusions
  • 7.3. Recommendations
  • 7.4. Contribution to knowledge
  • 7.5. Recommendations for improvement of the study
  • 7.6. Recommendations for further research
  • References

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