ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that understanding the particularities of shifting youth labour, mobility and social relations in the contemporary climate of market liberalisation and expanding socioeconomic divide is critical to developing appropriate food security and nutrition programming for rural youth. The importance of food security and nutrition among young women is compounded by early marriage and pregnancy in Malawi. Youth programming is extensive in Malawi, focusing on sexual and reproductive health, sports and recreation, and asset-building. The chapter draws on mixed-method survey data combined with ethnographic data, gathered from January 2008 to August 2009. A food security and dietary diversity survey was implemented by five young people trained in survey techniques, to 213 youth randomly selected from 10 villages in the Ekwendeni Catchment Area. The research was done in collaboration with the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities (SFHC) project, which carries out participatory research with smallholder farmers on sustainable agriculture options to improve food security and nutrition.
