Cdedi dares govt on maize, fertiliser distribution

The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiatives (Cdedi) has dared the Tonse government to accelerate distribution of maize and fertiliser to acutely food-insecure people amid the country’s gloomy food situation.

Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa made call at Nkhulambe Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Phalombe district on Thursday during launch of a pilot project on the right to food targeting the utra-poor in rural and urban areas.

The project targets survivors of the devastating Cyclone Freddy in Chiradzulu, Phalombe, Mulanje, Chikwawa and Nsanje districts, but falls under Cdedi’s nationwide ‘Maize Prices Must Fall’ campaign.

Said Namiwa: “With the rainy season fast approaching, it is worrying that there is a serious uncertainty over availability of maize and fertiliser in the country coupled with worsening scarcity of fuel and essential drugs due to forex shortages.”

He claimed that despite the sustained rhetoric by authorities about maize availability in the country, most Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) selling points are empty, and fertilisers are nowhere yet rains are just around the corner.

The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture recently, also, faulted government’s slow pace in distributing maize to Admarc depots following the commencement of the exercise last month.

Data sourced by the committee showed that the State grain trader had distributed 3 360 metric tonnes (MT) in the country’s three regions out of the earmarked 12 640MT as of last week.

But government recently assured that the process was ongoing to enable more people access the staple food.

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture indicate that Admarc disbursed about 2 450MT in the Southern Region, 410MT in the North and 500MT in the Central Region as of last week.

This comes after a recent Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report showed that 4.4 Malawians face hunger in the 2023/24 consumption period, representing about 22 percent of the country’s projected total population of 19.6 million.

Meanwhile, Village Head Namata, who represented Senior Chief Nkhulambe hailed Cdedi for launching a ‘Food, my right’ (Chakudya, ufulu wanga) project in his area, targeting 1 300 people in the Southern Region districts which were badly hit by the cyclone and the vulnerable urban poor in Blantyre and Lilongwe cities to consolidate their recovery efforts.

Under the initiative, the beneficiaries will receive food rations, farm inputs, training in Mbeya fertiliser and soap-making as well as artisan skills to increase food production and improve household incomes.