Survival gets tough for urban dwellers, says WFP
The World Food Programme (WFP) says households in the country’s urban areas now require K94 644 per month to cover lifesaving needs amid cost of living crisis at a time the monthly minimum wage is at K50 000.
In its Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (Smeb) in Malawi published on Wednesday, WFP said an urban household requires at least K63 929 for food and K30 777 for non-food expenditure.
On the other hand, a rural household requires an average of K72 964 to cover basic needs in a month, with K63 093 spent on food while K9 871 on non-food items.
Reads the WFP analysis: “At national level, households’ expenditure required to sustain their Smeb [Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket] fell by one percent to K78 398 per month from K79 200 per month in the previous round.
“The current Smeb value represents a 79.5 percent average increase in expenditure for a typical household in the country since the start of data collection in April 2020.”
It said the fall in the cost of fish and firewood largely contributed to the decline in the overall Smeb in the country.
During the review period from September 5 to 10, the price of maize increased by 0.9 percent to K328 per kilogramme (kg) in early September, up from K322 two weeks prior.
The price of beans increased to K1 443 per kg, an increase of 1.1 percent and that of cowpeas to K853 per kg, increasing by four percent.
Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito said yesterday that the rising prices have made it hard for a majority of people to survive.
“It is extremely hard for a majority of people to survive,” he said.
Meanwhile, the rising food prices have continued to push up inflation, with the Reserve Bank of Malawi projecting 2022 annual inflation rate at 21.5 percent from an outturn of 9.3 percent in 2021.
The World Bank has since warned of sustained price increases of 32 percent, which is the rate of food inflation in September, in the absence of rising incomes, will push an additional seven percent of the population into poverty.
The magnitude of the effect, according to the bank, depends on whether households are net food consumers or net producers.
