Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) of Karonga Diocese has urged Chitipa District Grievance Redress Mechanism Committee members to promote the right to food in Traditional Authority Mwenewenya in the district.
The commission’s national coordinator Lewis Msiyadungu said this on Wednesday during the training of the committee, adding that it will be the first point to receive and resolve matters pertaining to access to food.
“We are expecting all the grievances and conflicts that will arise at community level to be amicably resolved,” said Msiyadungu.
Chitipa District Council director of economic planning and development Phillimon Maseko commended CCJP for training the committee on how to resolve complaints on food access or distribution.
The project, among others, seeks to ensure that people receive relief food items in time or are able to access food without challenges and consume the food the area produces.
Janet Kaira, a community member, said sometimes the area does not or receives relief food late due to poor road network.
“We ask duty-bearers to plan properly when deciding to dispatch relief food to the area. We also ask authorities to ensure fair distribution of relief food,” she said.
Last month, CCJP drilled community members in T/A Mwenewenya to promote people’s right to food as well as embark on nutrition sensitisation activities.
The 30 trainees were drawn from Wenya Community Action Group and Wenya Area Development Committee.
CCJP is running Right to Food Project with support from Weilthungerhilfe.
