Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has supported community members in Traditional Authority Mlolo in Nsanje District with relief maize.
The distribution exercise seeks to reach out to food-insecure people during the lean period in the district.
Senior Chief Mlolo said her subjects were facing hunger because they did not harvest anything during the 2023/24 growing season due to Cyclone Freddy-induced floods which washed away crops in the area.
She said: “People have been sleeping on an empty stomach in the area. Some have been surviving on wild tubers. As a result, people have not been able to do other economic activities because they spend most of their time hunting for food or piecework.
“With the relief food, they will now be able to work in their farms to produce their own food.”
While commending Dodma for the initiative, Nsanje North legislator Enock Chizuzu (Malawi Congress Party) asked the government to increase the number of beneficiaries.
“After Cyclone Freddy, we also experienced flooding in the area as the Shire River burst its banks following the rise in water levels in Lake Malawi, thereafter, efforts to grow crops proved futile,” he said.
On his part, Dodma commissioner Charles Kalemba said so far they have been able to reach out to many beneficiaries during the first phase.
He said currently most of district councils are distributing the maize during second phase.
“We will roll out the third phase anytime,” said Kalemba.
One of the beneficiaries, Mary Beka from group village head Chapenga, thanked the government for the initiative.
“It was difficult for children to go to school hungry. We are pleased that our children will now concentrate in class,” she said.
