Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Mbilizi has launched a K209.4 billion 2025–2026 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme targeting about four million people nationwide.
The minister said during the launch at Chinguni Primary School in Machinga on Saturday that government has already secured K46 billion from partners, including the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, United States Agency for International Development and Irish Aid which has been used to buy food and support cash transfers.
“We are pleading with our donors to come to our aid and help us fill up this deficit to make sure that this programme runs smoothly,” said Mbilizi.
She said Malawi continues to face multiple challenges such as climate change, economic instability, floods and pest attacks that have destroyed crops in many farming areas.
Mbilizi emphasised the need for people to adapt to changing weather patterns through irrigation farming which her ministry is promoting as one way of ending hunger in the country.
She also revealed that government plans to implement several initiatives aimed at ending hunger, including revamping six major irrigation schemes that are currently idle, promoting the Greenbelt Initiative, mega farms and establishing cooperatives.
Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) Commissioner Wilson Moleni said food distribution will take place in all 28 councils and four cities whether declared disaster zones or not.
In most districts, the programme will commence between mid-November and December, covering the four to six months of peak food deficit. Beneficiaries will receive either a 50-kilogramme bag of maize per month or a cash transfer of K90 000 to purchase food.
WFP representative in Malawi Hyoung Joon Lim said the organisation remained committed to supporting government efforts to eradicate hunger by providing food assistance to the most vulnerable households.
“We are supporting 1.9 million of the most vulnerable people out of the four million affected by hunger, and we are also assisting 110,000 children with nutrition and 100 000 learners in schools,” said Lim.
Meanwhile, Paramount Chief Kawinga of the Yao has called on all traditional leaders across the country to uphold fairness and transparency in the distribution of government food aid, warning that anyone found engaging in discrimination or corruption will face the law.
“Hunger affects everyone, and it is vital that assistance reaches all those in need to prevent deaths from starvation. Last year, hunger was so severe that some people in this district survived on banana stems as their daily food,” he said.
