The Rainbow Project: A Model to Fight Child Malnutrition in Zambia

Abstract

Child malnutrition in Zambia is a public health priority that must be addressed by networking local authorities, communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), through interventions focused both on treatment and prevention. The Rainbow Project, under the Pope John 23rd Association, is a large-scale model of care for orphans and vulnerable children which has been operating since 1998 in Ndola District. It runs a community-based programme that operates through supplementary feeding programmes (SFPs), run by local partner organisations and coordinated by professional figures working in cooperation with district health management teams (DHMTs). The Rainbow Project organises capacity-building activities for people involved inmalnutrition projects at district and community level, radio programmes to sensitise civil society and avoidstigma, and urban agriculture horticulture programmes (container gardening). The networking community-based management is an effective and sustainable way to fight child malnutrition, a major killer for children under five in lower middle-income countries (LMICs).