World Bank, Britain give Malawi relief boost

Britain and the World Bank yesterday gave Malawi’s humanitarian relief response a boost by pouring billions of kwacha to finance efforts to feed at least 6.5 million Malawians in need of relief food.

In a statement issued yesterday, the World Bank said it had approved $174 million (about K128 billion) funding to help Malawians facing food shortages this year as a result of combined effects of drought and flooding experienced in the last growing season, especially in the Southern Region and parts of the Central Region.

On the other hand, Britain announced an additional  £8.1million (about K7.2 billion) funding to Malawi Government to support the hunger-stricken families in the country.

United Kingdom (UK) Minister for the Department for International Development (DfID) James Wharton, who is on a three-day visit to Malawi, made the announcement at Namalindi, one of the World Food Programme (WFP) food distribution points in Chikwawa.

Out of World Bank’s $174 million package, $22.3 million will be a loan following calls by government for assistance in drought recovery after the devastating effects of El Nino which have left about eight million Malawians requiring food assistance, according to statistics from the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac).

It is estimated that the millions of Malawians will need at least 500 000 metric tonnes of maize to manage up to the next harvest period in April/May next year.

A statement from the World Bank in Washington DC indicates that a grant of $104 million will go towards the Malawi Drought Recovery and Resilience Project (MDRRP) and $47.68 million and $22 million towards the Malawi Social Action Fund (Masaf) IV and Strengthening Safety Nets Systems Project (SSNSP), respectively.

Richard Record, acting country manager for the World Bank in Malawi, said: “With Malawi’s economy and livelihoods highly dependent on agriculture, the current crisis creates opportunities to undertake reforms and resilience measures that will enable the country to emerge stronger. We are committed to help the country in this regard.”

Under the MDRRP, the funds would be used to buy maize amounting to $50 million enough to meet the needs of 1.6 million people.

National Food Reserve Agency has been tasked with buying the maize locally while World Food Programme would do the international procurement.

With the additional funding, the input for assets programme coverage would be increased from 15 to 24 districts, reaching about 200 000 beneficiaries with seed and fertiliser in return for working on feeder roads and repairing irrigation infrastructures.

Reacting to the World Bank gesture, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe said the drought recovery programme need was estimated at $500 million.

So far, governments of Japan and United States of America, among others, have provided humanitarian assistance in many forms amounting to millions of dollars to reduce the deficit.

And speaking after making the announcement, Wharton said the new package has taken the UK’s total humanitarian support to £43.1 million (about K39 billion).

He said the money will support 760 000 people with maize, but it will be the WFP, which is championing the food distribution exercise, that will decide which specific areas to benefit.

However, Wharton said it was time Malawi and its partners started looking at lasting solutions to hunger by adopting measure that will ensure every person is food secure in future.

He said: “It is not enough to just deal with the current crisis: Malawi must deliver the reforms needed to break the cycle of recurrent food insecurity in the country.”

Chikwawa district commissioner Bester Mandere thanked the UK on behalf of government. He said his district is one of the most affected districts because 95 percent of the population pegged at 550 000 are affected by this year’s hunger.

In April this year, President Peter Mutharika declared the country a State of National Disaster to mobilise local and international help in the wake of poor maize harvest due to prolonged drought and flooding this year.

Last year, the President also declared the State of National Disaster when it was established that 2.8 million people were in danger of starving due to combined effects of drought and floods that hit many parts of the country. n