By Jarson Malowa
The World Food Programme (WFP) has supported over 1.5 million people with food and cash since its El-Niño response started.
This is contained in WFP’s latest El-Niño update, made available to journalists who are currently on a media tour of the United Nations agency’s projects across the country.
“So far, 18,500mt [metric tonnes] of maize have been distributed, in line to meet 5.7 million people affected by hunger, which represents 28 percent of Malawians affected,” the WFP El- Niño update reads.
This followed El-Niño-induced hunger in the 2023-24 farming season, which was marked by dry spells.
WFP is procuring and transporting 48,000mt of maize on behalf of the Malawi Government.
In response to the crisis, the Government of Malawi launched the National El Niño induced prolonged dry spells and floods response plan.
The plan is designed to coordinate emergency relief efforts and allocate resources.
Meanwhile, over 13,000 children have received malnutrition treatment.
“Recent data indicates a significant increase in malnutrition cases over the past year. The number of children suffering from severe malnutrition rose by 23 percent, increasing from 3,050 cases in December 2023 to 3,762 cases in December 2024,” the update adds.
It indicates that at the same time, cases of moderate malnutrition surged, rising by 178 percent from 1,358 to 3,782 cases.
This sharp upward trend highlights the growing nutritional crisis and underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions to address both severe and moderate malnutrition.
In addition, WFP and the Government of Malawi have signed an agreement to import 48,000mt of maize, valued at $35 million and funded by the World Bank Group, to address emergency food needs in the country.
This is the fourth time a State of Disaster has been declared during President Lazarus Chakwera’s tenure, highlighting the recurrent nature of climate-related challenges faced in Malawi.
El Niño follows a series of climate adversities, with cyclone Ana in 2022, Freddy in 2023 and Jude this month.
For 52-year-old Kettie Mpanda, a food distribution exercise powered by WFP will help the Nsanje-based woman and her family to have food.
She told The Daily Times in Nsanje on Wednesday that her home was affected by the problem of acute shortage of food, with a cup of maize selling at K9,500 each in most of the local markets in the district.
“I have been surviving through other means because food made from maize has been difficult to find. The maize market was very unpredictable, with a cup of maize fetching K9,500 in some markets. This resulted in our failure to buy maize for food. We were failing to buy maize for food because it was expensive,” she said.
WFP has received requests from Dodma to provide transport support of maize from the Strategic Grain Reserves, which the National Food Reserve Agency manages.
But officials say while resources have been mobilised, there is an urgent need to scale up humanitarian assistance, especially in delivering food assistance to those at risk of hunger.
They say poor crop yields and rising food insecurity are causing many families to struggle with feeding their children before school.
Government estimates show that El Niño has negatively impacted 44.3 percent of the national maize crop.
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