Hunger, unsafe food behind Kavango poisoning crisis – doctor

Food poisoning incidents in the Kavango regions are more likely being driven by poverty and hunger, unsafe food preparation and poisonous plants than by people deliberately poisoning one another, according to Rundu Intermediate Hospital senior medical officer Dr Tauya Muteka.

Muteka, who presented her findings on food poisoning in Kavango East and Kavango West at the Namibia Medical Society’s annual scientific conference in Rundu earlier this month, said her concern was sparked by repeatedly seeing patients arriving at the hospital “in groups as in a household” after consuming the same food.

“There used to be a myth that people are poisoning each other in Kavango regions, which is not the case,” Muteka said.

She said incidents appear to occur in clusters, which have increased from three in 2023 to four in 2024 and five in 2025, with more than 55 people affected last year.

About 70% of those affected were children, turning the issue into a broader public-health and government concern.

Muteka identified cassava, a starchy root vegetable, as one possible source of poisoning, explaining that it naturally contains cyanide-producing compounds that can become dangerous when the crop is not handled carefully.

“Cassava naturally does have cyanide poisoning, and it only comes out when it’s not prepared very well,” she said.

She said hunger could result in people failing to follow proper preparation methods.

“During the time when food becomes scarce, preparation of the food is not done in an appropriate manner,” Muteka said.

She also raised concerns about mutete (wild spinach)-linked poisoning, saying incidents occur mainly during rainy seasons in specific areas, when children sent into fields to collect the plant may inadvertently gather poisonous shrubs growing among edible ones.

“And it’s mostly kids, children who are sent out into the field to go and pick the mutete,” she said.

“Because they want to fill up the basket, as in to have everything in bulk, they must identify the shrubs or they pick the ones that are also poisonous.”

Muteka linked these risks directly to poverty and hunger.

“Whenever there’s hunger, there’s always something that is not prepared in an appropriate manner,” she said.

Government coordination required

She also warned about food-safety practices in schools and hostels, saying food can spoil quickly in the region’s warm conditions, while poor refrigeration and inadequate knowledge about microbes increase the risks.

“People are not taught about food safety,” she said. “It’s all education.”

Muteka also questioned food-safety monitoring at open markets.

“If we go to the open markets, we don’t have inspectors that even come and inspect the open markets,” she said, calling for greater awareness of cleanliness and safe food handling.

She said the problem requires cooperation between government institutions rather than being left to the health sector.

“We need the ministry of education. We need the ministry of agriculture. It’s not only the ministry of health with all of this,” she said.

“Everybody is doing their part, but we are not doing it together.”

She called for rural hospitals and clinics to be better prepared to handle poisoning cases, including training healthcare workers on the appropriate use of activated charcoal.

Muteka also called for more investigations and laboratory capacity to identify the toxins involved.

“We need more investigations to be done, more labs for us to actually identify what type of toxin it is,” she said.

She warned against assuming that poisoning was deliberate without first establishing its cause.

“We should refrain from always assuming that this person was poisoned by someone,” Muteka said.