As Malawi prepares for the 2026- 27 rainy season, the Mangochi District Nutrition Coordinating Committee (DNCC) has called for early and coordinated action to protect food security and nutrition in communities that are vulnerable to climate shocks.
Mangochi District Council Chief Nutrition, HIV and Aids Officer Patrick Manyowa made the call amid forecasts from the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services indicating a high likelihood of a strong El Niño, with below-normal rainfall expected across much of Southern and Central Malawi.
Manyowa said for Mangochi, the threats posed by El Niño are more than a weather concern because the 2024-25 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) indicated that 38 percent of children surveyed in the district were stunted while 8.8 percent were underweight.
“Experience from the previous El Niño-related drought should be a warning to us. Unicef [United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund] reported that from nearly 190,000 children under the age of five who were screened for wasting [acute malnutrition] in Mangochi, Chikwawa, Nsanje and Salima in the first quarter of 2025, over 10,000 children had severe malnutrition which was treated under the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition Programme,” Manyowa said.
Meanwhile, Mangochi District Commissioner Rodney Simwaka has urged residents to utilise available water resources for irrigation farming.
