Florence Malama has joined the FishFirst! Zambia team and will be working in-country to implement surveys at Lake Kariba. Malama is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Human Nutrition at the University of Zambia (UNZA), where she holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition. She has been involved in food and nutrition research projects in Zambia as a researcher, field supervisor, and enumerator. During her undergraduate studies, Malama’s final-year research project focused on the effect of sprouting on selected macronutrients and physical properties of four Zambian common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) varieties. In 2020, her results were published in the Journal of Food and Nutrition Research.
Malama has participated in numerous assignments that have enriched her understanding of nutrition issues within the Zambian context, including experience in Clinical Nutrition Practice. Upon completing her undergraduate studies in 2017, she undertook work at the Kabwe Central Hospital as a nutritionist where she worked until July 2020 before returning to UNZA to pursue her master's degree. Her main roles at the hospital included Inpatient Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition (IMAM), promotion of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), encouraging good nutrition among the pregnant and lactating women, providing dietetic advice to patients, and conducting capacity building through IMAM mentorship to other health professionals and through clinical presentations. While at Kabwe Central Hospital, Malama also served as a part-time lecturer in the Kabwe College of Health Sciences and the Kabwe College of Nursing and Midwifery at Levy Mwanawasa Medical University, Kabwe Campus, where she taught nutrition courses to diploma- and certificate-level students.
More information about the FishFirst! project is available on the project web page.