04-09-2024 | di COOPI

DRC. How cooking demonstrations can save lives in a village: the story of Kasendami Muamba

In the heart of Central Kasai Province, in the Kalomba Health Zone, lies the village of Tshitadi, where the fight against child malnutrition is making great strides thanks to the “Programme for the implementation of community-based nutrition services in the province of Kasai Central” funded by the World Bank and implemented by COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale since August 2023. The goal of the two-year project is to increase access, utilization and integration of a package of nutrition services at the community level and in health facilities in Kasai, Kasai Central, Kwilu and South Kivu provinces.  Among the many lives touched by the project is that of Kasendami Muamba, a mother and janitor of children in the village of Tshitadi.

It is precisely within Ms. Kasendami's community that COOPI is carrying out one of the project's key activities, with the help of local partner Social Development Center: organizing cooking demonstrations to show mothers of young infants aged 0-59 months alternatives for creating nutritious meals. The demonstrations were a lifeline for Kasendami and her baby, who was beginning to show signs of moderate acute malnutrition. Concerned about her baby's health, Kasendami-Muamba promptly shared her situation with the program's technical supervisors, who gave her valuable advice on how to prepare soup enriched with local foods in order to improve the child's condition.

Within a month of introducing the new diet, my baby was transformed”

Kasendami admitted. 

But the impact of the program did not stop there. Prior to the arrival of the nutrition program, many women in the village did not know the proper techniques for preparing enriched soup, nor did they understand the importance of properly combining ingredients to maximize the nutritional value of the meal. Today, thanks to the awareness and training they have received, the village women are able to feed their children using local resources, without having to depend on outside help.

The success of the program, which is part of the larger framework of the Community-Based Nutrition Services Commissioning Program, is reflected not only in the prevention of malnutrition, but also in behavior change and community empowerment. Through strengthening feeding practices and promoting the use of micronutrients, the program is improving the lives of children aged 0-59 months and pregnant mothers, thereby contributing to a healthier and more prosperous future for Central Kasai Province.

The Kasendami-Muamba story is part of a larger context of challenges that the Democratic Republic of Congo faces on a daily basis. Despite being one of Africa's largest and richest states in terms of natural resources, the DRC is characterized by internal conflict, political instability, and severe deficiencies in basic services. In this context, COOPI has been working since 1977, carrying out activities to protect, prevent and combat malnutrition, promote food security and offer support to women and children who have survived violence and other human rights violations. In particular, COOPI in DRC focuses on combating malnutrition, providing treatment and nutritional support to thousands of malnourished children and mothers, but also works to protect unaccompanied minors and women survivors of gender-based violence, offering them psycho-social and health care, socio-economic reintegration, and educational reintegration. In addition, COOPI promotes food security through food and seed provision, farmer training, and sustainable natural resource management interventions.