Malawi on Thursday appealed for international food relief, saying a third of the country’s 11-million people face imminent starvation.
”Over 3,5-million Malawians, representing 32% of the population, most of them in the southern region, have already run out of food and are on the verge of starvation,” Agriculture Minister Chakufwa Chihana told officials from the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.
”We need urgent assistance from our cooperating partners,” said Chihana, who is also the country’s second vice-president.
He was speaking in the administrative capital, Lilongwe, where he and donors witnessed the release of thousands of tons of maize, the national staple, from strategic grain reserves on to the commercial market.
His appeal came two years after Malawi faced its worst hunger crisis in 50 years, affecting up to 76% of the population.
Wiepke van der Goot, head of the EU delegation in Malawi, said the body has already set aside €15-million for food security programmes in the Southern African nation and will distribute 40 000 tons of maize.
”In the past, especially in 2002, we saw a situation where there was not enough maize in the country. But since then we have strategic stocks in place able to feed Malawians for a three-month period,” he said.
Malawi usually produces two million tonnes of maize a year, enough to feed the entire population.
Meteorological experts say Malawi’s rainfall pattern has become unpredictable. Normally rains start in October in many parts of the country, but last year the rains did not begin in most areas until December. — AFP
