Norway unveils K8.2bn additional aid
Norway has unveiled an additional $8 million (about K8.2 billion) aid package for Malawi to help cushion the country against the negative effects of the Russia-Ukraine war and Cyclone Freddy.
Visiting Norway Deputy Minister of International Cooperation Bjorg Sandkjaer made the announcement during a press briefing she jointly addressed with Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale in Lilongwe yesterday.
From the package, $6 million (about K6.2 billion) will support the agriculture sector while $2 million (about K2.60 billion) will be channelled towards the disaster which has claimed at least 400 lives and displaced about 45 000 people in the Southern Region.
Sandkjaer observed that many developing countries are harshly affected by the consequences of Russia’s warn on Ukraine which added to an already challenging economic situation.
She said: “Pressure on food production and global supply chains has driven the cost of fertiliser and energy up, resulting in more hunger, more people into poverty and more distress.
“It is with this backdrop, that Norway has allocated extraordinary funds for 2023 to vulnerable populations who are harshly impacted by the global consequences of the war.”
Sandkjaer said the additional allocation translates into a 60 percent increase to the $10 million (about K10 billion) injected into the agriculture sector in 2023.
She said: “The repercussions of Russia’s war against Ukraine are affecting countries such as Malawi the hardest.
“This extraordinary support is meant to cushion some of these negative effects to support Malawi in lifting more people out of poverty, food insecurity and distress.”
In an exclusive interview later, Sandkjaer said the funds will be allocated to initiatives being implemented by United Nations agencies and civil society organisations.
She further said the Cyclone Freddy package will be handed to the World Food Programme to “address the food situation” and United Nations Children’s Fund.
On why the funds are not going directly to government, she said Norway has good experiences working with partners in joint programmes.
On his part, Kawale said the funding will be used to support smallholder farmers affected by the shocks.
He said: “The rural masses are the ones that have been impacted a lot. The money the Norwegian Government has given us is towards helping them because we need to recover from the shocks that they are experiencing.
“For those in livestock farming, we will help them with livestock and those who are in food production, we will see how we can help them with farm inputs as well as equipment.”
Norway is Malawi’s long-term donor which injects over K30 billion annually in health, agriculture and other socio-economic sectors.
