Beatrice Masilingi on growing healthy produce through backyard gardening.

WFP in Namibia has partnered with world Olympians Beatrice Masilingi and Christine Mboma to raise awareness on stunting and malnutrition in Namibia. In this video, Beatrice Masilingi encourages Namibians to grow their own produce in their gardens.

The Campaign aims to sensitize communities to diversify their diets and consume indigenous healthy food. At the national level, WFP conducted comprehensive baseline studies to update outdated data on national statistics and recommend applicable solutions through government programmes and policy dialogues. 

About the programme: 

Preliminary findings from Namibia’s Cost of Hunger (COHA) study reveal that 30.4 percent

of children under the age of five years in Namibia were affected by stunting in 2016 and 6

percent were underweight. This is in a population where 43.4 percent of working age adults

(15-64 years) were stunted as children, which has greatly impeded their productivity and

quality of life.

This evidence calls for an urgent need to strengthen and integrate efforts in tackling stunting

and malnutrition in Namibia. In line with the current recommendations of the FNG study and

the Government of Namibia, a food systems approach which includes fortification of

indigenous staples and optimization of the local food market, has the potential to improve

nutrition outcomes, principally amongst vulnerable populations.

Video: WFP/ Red Alpha