Malawi District Capacity Assessment for Nutrition and Early Child Development

An assessment of capacity and service delivery bottlenecks for nutrition and early childhood development was carried out in Ntcheu and Balaka districts in Malawi to inform the design of the new MAZIKO integrated Maternal and Child Grants project. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with key stakeholders at national, district, area and village level, complemented by a document review to identify key gaps. While there are strong policies, frameworks and structures to support the delivery of nutrition and early childhood development services, gaps in funding, staff capacity and monitoring systems are affecting service coverage and quality.