Cyclone survivors to get money for 3 months

Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs plans to disburse money to Cyclone Freddy survivors in Nsanje District to cushion them from economic shocks during the lean season.

The cash transfer will see each beneficiary household getting K50 000 per month for three months from October 2023.

Speaking in an interview on Saturday, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs principal economist John-Funny Mwale said they want to help cyclone survivors get through the lean season as they did not harvest anything.

He said: “We will draw the names of beneficiaries from the unified beneficiary registration [UBR] and any beneficiary should have a national identity [ID] card or a form for application of the same.

“I want to make it clear that a beneficiary will get the money meant for purchasing food in person.”

Nsanje district director of planning and development Smith Mnenula said they will mobilise beneficiaries to go the National Registration Bureau office to collect their national IDs so that they can benefit.

“We appreciate the government’s support because people are facing hunger in the district. The initiative will help families to get food during the lean season,” he said.

Malawi Government is implementing the initiative in Nsanje, Balaka, Chikwawa, Blantyre Rural, Blantyre City, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Phalombe, Mulanje, Zomba City and Zomba Rural with funding from the World Bank through National Local Government Finance Committee.

In March this year, the country experienced Cyclone Freddy which displaced 659 278 and killed 679 people in the Southern Region.