Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) says it has a K94 billion shortfall of the required K209 billion Lean Season Food Insecurity Response budget to cater for four million people facing hunger in the 2025/26 lean season.
Dodma commissioner Wilson Moleni said in an interview yesterday that the department has mobilised K114.6 billion from private companies, multilateral and bilateral partners.
He said the total budget covers the cost of coordination estimated at K467 million, food security at K168 billion, nutrition at K16 billion, protection at K884 million and transport and logistics estimated at K22 billion.
Said Moleni: “The resources have been mobilised from several stakeholders. We are intensifying efforts to continue mobilising resources so that we reach our target.
“We feel the same institutions that we approached at the beginning will also help. We intend to approach them individually.”
He said government through the strategic grain reserves (SGR) allocated an initial 30 000 metric tonnes (MT) of maize which they are already distributing.
Moleni said this consignment is covering food gaps between November and December.
In a separate interview, Centre for Social Concern (CfSC) programmes officer Agnes Nyirongo said government should partner more stakeholders to help the food- insecure population in the country.
She said the government must ensure that those affected are reached out and efforts to fund the remaining deficit must be intensified.
Said Nyirongo: “We commend efforts made to raise funds meant for disaster response. But moving forward, the government should aim for partnerships with humanitarian organisations that are also in disaster response efforts.
“This would lessen the economic burden on the government. Again, the government should intensify efforts in social cash transfers which have proved to help the poor.”
Meanwhile, Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Affairs chairperson Savel Kafwafwa said as an oversight committee, they are monitoring with keen interest resources being mobilised by Dodma.
“We appreciate the budget that has been set and we know they are targeting four million individuals affected by hunger. Our concern will be if the budget is not reached, it means some people will not be reached. We will try to share the deficit across the country. We will make sure that no one is left out in the food response,” he said.
President Peter Mutharika last month declared a State of Disaster in all 28 districts and four cities in the country in the wake of severe food insecurity due to prolonged dry spells.
A 2025 Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report indicated that four million people, or about 891 000 households, are at risk of hunger during the 2025/26 consumption period, representing 22 percent of the country’s projected population of 18.5 million.
The report further said the vulnerable population would require humanitarian food assistance amounting to roughly 200 000MT of maize, valued at an estimated K387.20 billion, for a period ranging between three and six months.
