Government officials have heaved a sigh of relief after Malawian and Tanzanian officials have agreed to mill the 30,000 metric tonnes (mt) of maize that have been stuck in the neighbouring country.
Recently, Tanzania effected a maize importation ban as one way of protecting the crop in that country, a development that has culminated in about 30,000mt of maize destined for hunger-stricken Malawi being withheld in the Southern African Development Community member state.
This came after Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale had indicated that the ministry had been working with financiers the World Bank, as well as the World Food Programme (WFP), Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) and other offices to facilitate the become self-sufficient.
“And we talked about young people and how we can incorporate them into agriculture. How we can transform agriculture so that women who are in farming can actually benefit and make money?” Haile said.
He added that they discussed the issue of collaboration between the Government of Malawi and WFP, including how they can take their collaboration from national level to Southern African Development Community level.
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The official said the problem of hunger is not only affecting Malawi but is prevalent across the region.
He said the problem is expected to be compounded by El Niño, which is expected to hit the region during the season.
“What we, as WFP, are doing is supporting the government in every way possible to make sure that we have necessary resources mobilised and distribute them to the people that need them and, at the same time, build resilient food systems so that we don’t have to depend on food handouts,” Haile said.
Secretary for Disaster Management Affairs Charles Kalemba said they noted, during the meeting, that transforming agriculture is crucial, observing that there is no way hoe use can help the region shore up food production.
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Kalemba added that the meeting looked at how best Malawi could use its many youths to develop agriculture.
Currently, food prices in Malawi have significantly shot up, with a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of maize selling at between K50 million and K60 million.
WFP is helping Malawi to import maize from Tanzania and South Africa using funds from the World Bank.
