Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has started distributing relief maize to about 12 661 households in Mzuzu City.
The households are part of the 5.7 million Malawians projected to be food-insecure by the 2024 Malawi Vulnerable Assessment Committee (Mvac) report.
Following the forecast, Dodma rolled out a Lean Season Insecure Food Response targeting beneficiaries with maize or cash to buy food.
In some districts, beneficiaries started receiving relief maize from November but Mzuzu is the last council to receive the relief food.
Speaking when launching the distribution exercise at Chibavi Primary School, Mzuzu City Council chief executive officer Gomezgani Nyasulu said it took longer
People carry bags of maize during the distribution exercise. | Euneas Zinyengo
for Mzuzu City to benefit from the response due to delays in identifying rightful beneficiaries.
“Identifying beneficiaries started in October last year but we took longer to distribute the grain because we needed to be accurate in our assessment,” he said.
Nyasulu said each beneficiary will also receive K140 000 in the next two months, courtesy of funding from development partner GiveDirectly.
Mzuzu City legislator Benex Mwamlima said the relief has come at the right time when people have no food.
He said the other vulnerable people will benefit from the 20 000 metric tonnes of maize government is buying from Tanzania.
One of the beneficiaries, 72-year-old widow Ivy Chirwa said the 50-kilogramme bag will take her family to next month.
