President Peter Mutharika has extended the declaration of a State of Disaster to all 28 districts and four cities in the wake of severe food insecurity due to prolonged dry spells.
In October, Mutharika initially declared a State of Disaster in 11 districts, but has now included all districts as the food situation is expected to worsen from October 2025 to March 2026.
A statement signed by Chief Secretary Justin Saidi said the government is providing humanitarian assistance and promoting irrigation farming while appealing for local and international support for affected families and related interventions.
“Following the projected worsening food situation in the country over the period October 2025 to March 2026, His Excellency has exercised the powers vested in him under Section 37 [1] of the Disaster Risk Management Act [2023] to extend the declaration of State of Disaster in all the affected areas in the country,” reads part of the statement.
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) says the declaration now offers them the opportunity to look for more resources and help the affected people.
Dodma commissioner Wilson Moleni said from the ground, they have noticed food insecurity has not spared any district.
“The number of people affected by hunger as of now has not yet changed. But the declarations open doors for other partners to come in and assist those district councils. In the district councils that we have been, it is clear that all of them need urgent food assistance and this declaration opens doors for more assistance,” said Moleni.
The Commissioner added that the Lean Season Food Insecurity Response budget pegged at K209 billion and now faces a K147 billion deficit, was a plan for the whole country and with the latest declaration, the department will only intensify resource mobilisation.
“This means that we need more resources. Initially when we set out the response plan, we planned for the whole country. We will not necessarily do a fresh budget. If we mobilise resources on the initial budget, we are quite optimistic that we will reach out to all people affected by hunger in the country,” said Moleni.
In an interview yesterday, Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) executive director John Kapito said Malawians are hungry and the latest declaration is timely.
According to Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a district is declared as a disaster area when 20 percent of its population is food insecure.
A Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report released last month indicated that four million people or about 891 000 households, are at risk of hunger during the 2025/26 consumption period, representing 22 percent of the country’s projected population of 18.5 million.
