Malawi is among countries projected to be hard hit by El Niño weather phenomenon and set to benefit from a $202 million (about K354 billion) joint appeal by two United Nations (UN) agencies.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP) said apart from Malawi, others making the list are Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
In the joint statement published through FAO page on Saturday, the two agencies announced their first-ever Joint Anticipatory Action Appeal to help protect nearly 8.8 million people from the expected impacts of a strong El Niño weather phenomenon.
the data. | FAO
FAO deputy director-general Beth Bechdol is quoted in the statement as having said: “We have the data, the tools and the evidence to identify risks before they become emergencies. The challenge is ensuring that financing is available early enough to act.”
On his part, WFP acting executive director Carl Skau said the tools to anticipate such events are available, but what matters is how they act on that knowledge.
“We cannot afford the fallout of another food crisis. With El Niño on the horizon, we have a narrow window to act so families are not forced into impossible choices later,” he said.
The required funding will support a package of anticipatory actions tailored to individual local contexts, including cash assistance, the distribution of drought-tolerant and/or flood-resistant seeds, livestock protection measures and water harvesting.
In May this year, the Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services warned that Malawi could experience another El Niño event this year, a development likely to disrupt rainfall patterns and threaten food security.
According to the World Meteorological Organization, an El Niño event is expected to develop from mid-2026, affecting global temperature and rainfall patterns.
Reacting to the warning, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Mbilizi said President Peter Mutharika has directed the ministry to intensify preparedness measures to cushion Malawians from possible hunger.
She said the ministry was preparing farmers for the anticipated dry conditions by promoting drought-resilient crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes.
Malawi was among the countries hardest hit by the El Niño-induced drought during the 2023/24 farming season, prompting the government to declare a State of Disaster in 23 of the country’s 28 districts.
