Chakwera declare State of disaster in 23 districts

President Lazarus Chakwera yesterday declared a State of Disaster in 23 out of the country’s 28 districts affected by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

The districts are Nsanje, Chikwawa, Mulanje, Phalombe, Blanytre, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Zomba, Mangochi, Balaka, Machinga, Mwanza, Neno, Salima, Mchinji, Dowa, Dedza, Lilongwe, Ntchisi, Ntcheu, Nkhotakota, Kasungu and Karonga.

In his national address at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe last night, Chakwera said he directed the Ministry of Agriculture to work with other agencies, including the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma), Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services, United Nations and district councils to evaluate the full extent and impact of El Nino, and give him a report.

He said the directive was compelled by his visit to displacement camps where food security was number one on the list of needs.

Said Chakwera: “Our preliminary assessment is that close to 2 million farming households have been affected. Specifically, 749 113 hectares [ha] of maize have been affected, representing 44.3 percent of the national crop area.

“Other important crops like rice, soya beans, cowpeas and groundnuts have also been affected, as the full report from the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee [Mvac] will show when it comes out.”

While describing the situation in the 23 districts as devastating, Chakwera said the most urgent need is food because of the large number of people at risk of hunger.

He, therefore, appealed to Malawians of goodwill, both locally and abroad, development partners, the World Bank, United Nations agencies as well as other well-wishers to avail resources in cash or in kind as donations to the Presidential Initiative to Stop Hunger.

The initiative will be coordinated by the President’s office through Dodma.

According to Chakwera, it is estimated that close to 600 000 metric tonnes of maize valued at K357.6 billion will be required for the humanitarian response.

In his concluding remarks, the President said no one was at fault for disasters that have kept hitting  the country.

“But if we stand united and put away politics of pettiness and negativity to confront this latest disaster, there is no one in this country who should die because of hunger.

“So, let us once again show the world the greatness we are capable of as a people when we stand together as one nation,” he said.

Chakwera’s declaration comes at a time when reports show that combined effects of El Nino will cost Malawi a whopping K337 million in maize production loss.

The El Nino weather phenomenon also poses a threat to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal SDG number two which aims at ending hunger and ensuring that everybody has easy access to basic, safe and nutritious foods by 2030.

Such threats to agricultural productivity also have the potential to derail the achievement of goals set in the country’s long-term development blueprint, Malawi 2063, where increasing agricultural productivity and commercialisation is one of the key pillars

Earlier, Centre for Social Concern project officer Kondwani Hara said effects of El Nino would adversely affect many Malawians who are already grappling with economic challenges.

He said: “This stark reality places an immense burden on the shoulders of those who are already grappling with economic hardships, pushing them further into the abyss of hunger and despair.”

As part of solutions, Hara suggested subsidised maize distribution, provision of social safety nets, price monitoring regulation, policy reforms, water harvesting and conservation, diversification of income and investment in agriculture.

El Nino is often associated with delayed start of rainfall, below-normal precipitation and dry spells.

It is estimated that El Nino will reduce Malawi’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 4.4%.

Malawi’s agricultural production specifically the country’s staple crop maize, solely relies on rainfall and the sector accounts for more than one-quarter of the GDP.