Malnutrition has remained stubbornly high amongst Zambians over the past decade, especially amongst the rural households. Zambia is one of the countries with the highest levels of undernourishment in the world with a prevalence of about 45% (FAO et. al., 2018). One of the major contributors to the high malnutrition levels are the high poverty levels experienced in the rural areas, estimated to be around 76% (CSO, 2015). It is against this background that Musika, using its market oriented approach, envisions contributing towards a reduction in malnutrition levels amongst the rural households across the country through the “Making Zambia’s Agricultural Markets Work for Nutrition” initiative. Under this specific project, Musika seeks to achieve increased consumption of a diverse range of nutritious foods among poor Zambians, especially amongst women and children and within smallholder farming and rural communities.
In order to establish the status quo with regards to, among other key issues, knowledge, attitudes and practices around nutrition, the baseline survey was conducted in Mumbwa, Kabwe, Mazabuka and Mongu districts where 1,236 smallholder farming households were randomly interviewed.