First Capital Bank (FCB) has donated K210 million to government for the procurement of maize for distribution to food-insecure households in the country.
Speaking when he received the donation in Lilongwe on Monday, Minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha said the funds will be managed by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) which handles distribution of relief support to those facing hunger.
The minister said government has secured K107 billion out of the K350 billion required for the hunger response, leaving a deficit of K143 billion.
Said Mwanamvekha: “As a ministry, we are quite happy to have the corporate sector for their support because we need the food now since hunger is already biting hard on the affected people.”
He said while responding to disasters, government is also working on other approaches which would reduce vulnerability of the people should more disasters befall them.
According to Mwanamvekha, the Ministry of Agriculture is implementing an irrigation schemes programme targeted at farmers producing food in the face of droughts.
In her remarks, FCB chief executive officer Agnes Jazza said they decided to intervene because the hunger problem affects many people, some of whom may be their customers.
She said: “As much as this falls under our corporate social responsibility, we were compelled to intervene, knowing that the support is going to impact some of our customers. If we can help it, we wouldn’t want to be serving hungry people.”
According to a Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee Report issued last month, at least four million Malawians are facing serious food shortages during the October 2025 to March 2026 lean season.
President Peter Mutharika recently declared a State of Disaster in 11 districts where people are at risk of extreme hunger and require immediate humanitarian assistance.
The affected districts are Blantyre, Chikwawa, Lilongwe, Mulanje, Mwanza, Neno, Nkhotakota, Nsanje, Phalombe, Salima and Thyolo.
