Food insecurity to rise in Malawi

A new report has singled out Malawi as a country whose food security indicators are projected to deteriorate due to rapid population growth rates that exceed estimated growth in food production and import growth.

According to report titled International Food Security Assessment, 2013-2023 by United States Department of Agriculture, population in sub-Saharan Africa, on average, is projected to grow by 2.8 percent per year over the next decade, while growth rates in Uganda and Malawi are projected at 3.0 and 3.3 percent, respectively.

Last year, two million people needed food assistance despite government investing heavily in the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp).

According to the annual Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee Report (MVACR), 1 461 940 people in the country are in need of 57 346 metric tonnes of maize equivalent to meet their food requirements until March 2014.

The government and key international partners agree on the need for an early humanitarian response to avoid any deterioration of the current situation. World Food Programme (WFP) has issued a preliminary appeal for $61 million for humanitarian operations, starting from October 2013, to cover the lean period.

“The share of the population projected to be food insecure in these three countries in 2023 ranges from 30 percent in Malawi to 70 percent in Uganda,” reads the report.

It says while Chad, Malawi and Uganda are projected to show the most significant deterioration in food security in sub-Saharan Africa during 2013-23, the Central African Republic (CAR), DR Congo, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia and Zambia are projected to be the most food-insecure countries in the region.