Queuing for madeya

Starvation across Malawi is getting worse by the day and fast reaching degrading levels. This multitude of people captured last week at Catholic University in Nguludi, Chiradzulu—is queuing for a five-litre bucket of maize husks (madeya) that some ‘azungus’ were distributing to people from communities surrounding the university.

But it is survival of the fittest here as only energetic people can muscle their way to the benefactors to get madeya. For example, a mother of four who only identified herself as MayiNdodo of Kwinjiwa Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kadewere in Chiradzulu, says for the past several weeks, she has been going to the university hoping to get the suddenly all-important bucket of maize husks to process into ‘flour’ and feed her children, but each time she has returned empty-handed, having been elbowed out by stronger people.

At least 2.8 million Malawians face hunger this year