Abstract:
Hunger and inadequate nutrition are ongoing
concerns in rural Malawi and are exemplified
in traditional proverbs. Traditional proverbs and
common expressions offer insight into commonly
held truths across societies throughout sub-Saharan
Africa. Strong oral traditions allow
community beliefs embodied in proverbs to be
passed down from generation to generation. In
our qualitative study, we conducted 8 individual
and 12 focus group interviews with a total of 83
participants across two districts in rural central
Malawi with the aim of soliciting context-specific
details on men and women’s knowledge, attitudes
and practices related to nutrition, gender equality
and women’s empowerment. Each interview
began by asking participants to share common
proverbs related to nutrition. Our qualitative
analysis, informed by an indigenous-based
theoretical framework that recognises and centres
African indigenous knowledge production, yielded
six themes: ’a black dog enters the home’, ’don’t
stay with your hands hanging’, ’a man is at the
stomach’, ’showers have fallen’, ’we lack peace in our hearts’ and ’the hunger season’. Traditional
proverbs can provide insight into the underlying
causes of hunger and malnutrition. Physicians,
nurses and other allied health professionals
around the world have a role to play in addressing
hunger and malnutrition, which have been
exacerbated by climate change. We have an
ethical duty to educate ourselves and others, and
change our behaviours, to mitigate the root causes
of climate change, which are contributing to food
insecurity and resultant poor health outcomes in
countries like Malawi.
