Malawi’s IPC Acute Food Insecurity Analysis Projection has revealed that the country’s food security situation will worsen between October 2023 and March 2024.
The report has indicated that the food crisis will affect 3.9 million people in rural areas, with 470,000 to be affected in cities such as Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
According to the report, the situation will negatively impact rural and urban households by affecting their financial access to food.
Commenting on the report, Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale said it is not different from what Malawi’s Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) predicted.
“We used the same report to come up with this year’s food situation analysis but if you can take a close look at the document, there are some indicators that show that we have enough food, except maize, which is the main staple food,” Kawale said.
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Commenting on fears that most districts in the Southern Region are remaining with food up to the end of September, Kawale said that is why the government started the distribution of maize in the Southern Region.
According to Kawale, the report shows that the county has surplus food, adding that the government is planning to move the food from the northern and central regions to the Southern Region.
“In the midst of plenty, people are still going hungry because we are not used to food diversification and it is a challenge to convince a Malawian that we should diversify our sources of food. It is a challenge even to convince some people who are educated that maize is not the only food that we can rely on. The problem is that, in Malawi, maize is the only thing that is considered as food,” Kawale said.
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Kawale has, however, said the Ministry of Agriculture will do another assessment to look at the most affected districts.
He disclosed that the government’s plan is to distribute maize to all agricultural districts, adding that, from October this year, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs will start the distribution of food to vulnerable people in all the districts.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Committee of Parliament Chairperson Sameer Suleman has said all indicators are pointing to hunger and that, in some parts of the country, hunger is already biting people.
“The government should start responding to these calls with all the seriousness this deserves. What makes it worse is that our reserves are dry and most of the maize is with traders. I would like to warn traders not to take advantage of the situation but to work with the government in trying to alleviate the effects of the impending hunger,” Suleman said.
He said government should start looking for cheaper maize from Malawi’s neighbours.
According to the report, the economic instability of the country is likely to worsen, given problems such as high inflation rate, shortage of foreign exchange and inadequate import cover.
“El Nino probability is above 90 percent. The country is thus likely to experience dry weather in the projected period, which is likely to impact cereal production and pose challenges to increased imports in the future,” the report reads.
The report further indicates that the war in Ukraine will continue to disrupt the global supply chain, resulting in high costs of agricultural inputs, fuel, cooking oil and wheat products, hence increasing the cost of production for irrigated crops during the next agricultural season
It has also said issues such as the increase in transportation costs and the devaluation and depreciation of Kwacha will continue to increase transportation costs for agricultural inputs and commodities produced and imported within and from neighbouring countries.
The report says labour opportunities will likely be normal, with increased labour rates.
However, the rates will have less value due to increased prices and the devaluation of the local currency.
“The maximum projected price for maize is expected to be K965 per kilogramme, although it may be even higher in some markets. The above average prices will likely affect rural and urban households and provide unfavourable financial access to food during the projection period,” the report reads.
