Karonga Diocese of the Catholic Church has disbursed money to food-insecure people in Traditional Authority Kyungu in Karonga District to enable them buy maize during the lean season.
During the pay parade on Saturday, St. Joseph Cathedral administrator Father Cecilio Silwamba advised the beneficiaries to use the money to buy food.
He said the food crisis project was a response to President Lazarus Chakwera’s call in March this year to support people affected by dry spells in the country’s 23 districts.
Said Silwamba: “The initiative seeks to contribute to food security for 3 230 vulnerable households through food, cash-for-food and drought resistance tuber vines in Malawi with Karonga having 340 beneficiaries.
“Again, the project will support affected households with soya-corn and blend flour.”
Group village head Mwenechilanga urged families to budget together to buy food.
One of the beneficiaries, Ketson Silwimba, commended the diocese for the initiative, saying the relief came at the right time when families were struggling to get food.
Karonga Diocese monitoring and evaluation officer Deodatus Muliya said apart from the money for food, 88 children will get Likuni Phala.
“Every beneficiary will get K100 000 for them to buy food and 88 children will receive nutritious Likuni Phala,” he said.
Karonga Diocese is among the eight dioceses to benefit from a six-month K724 million funding from Caritas Internationalis which comprises Caritas Korea, Caritas Japana, Caritas Italiana, Caritas Slovenia and Sciaf through Episcopal Conference of Malawi
