250 families get relief food in Chitipa

Thembi Community Initiative has distributed relief maize and groundnuts to 250 food-insecure households under their programme in Chitipa District.

Speaking during the handover, Thembi Community Initiative programmes director Patrick Ziba said the organisation, which supports children living with HIV, decided to distribute the food to empower the families during the lean season.

“We started distributing maize and groundnuts in November last year. This is the last month to distribute the food items as the lean period is coming to an end,” he said.

Ziba, who is also Chitipa Civil Society Organisation Network chairperson, said his organisation will in the next growing season distribute farm inputs to beneficiaries to empower them to grow their own food.

Chitipa district principal nutrition and HIV officer Martins Mkandawire commended Thembi Community Initiative for distributing the relief food to families with children living with HIV.

“We appreciate the organisation for complementing government’s efforts to provide food to vulnerable communities,” he said.

Mkandawire asked other non-governmental organisations to emulate the gesture set by Thembi Community Initiative.

One of the beneficiaries, Joyce Kayira, said the organisation has been providing them with relief food monthly since November 2023.

“The relief food enabled us to give our children nutritious meals. Again, we did not have to suffer looking for piecework to support our families. We are looking forward to receiving the farm inputs so we can grow our food,” she said.

Each beneficiary received a 50 kilogramme (kg) bag of maize and a 25kg bag of groundnuts.