Cost and Affordability of Nutritious Diets in Malawi: December 2023 Update

Save the Children (SC) in Malawi has been monitoring the monthly household cost of a nutritious diet and assessing the level of affordability gaps across various household types since April 2021 using the Cost of the Diet (CotD) assessment research method. The initial phase of the research involved analysing twelve months of data utilising the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Minimum Expenditure Basket (MEB) food list. In September 2023, supported by funding from LIFT LAB, efforts to update the results up until July 2023 began, incorporating additional food price data for those months. This second phase of the CotD analysis aimed to integrate Save the Children’s Household Economy Analysis (HEA) and Cost of Diet (CotD) tools to forecast future changes in the affordability of a nutritious diet. The objective is to model interventions preemptively, prior to a crisis, to prevent a decline in the affordability of nutritious diets, thereby averting an increase in malnutrition.

The primary objective of the Cost of the Diet (CotD) assessment was to estimate the minimum cost of a nutritious diet based on locally available and culturally acceptable foods and to assess the extent to which economic constraints hinder an average Malawian household (particularly the poor and ultra-poor households) from accessing a nutritious diet.

This report presents the analysis process, key findings, and recommendations for anticipatory action for SC and its partners.