WFP for lasting solution to hunger

World Food Programme (WFP) deputy country director Simon Denhere has urged the need to protect at-risk communities, including smallholder farmers, to expedite progress in the fight against hunger.

Speaking in Lilongwe on Wednesday ahead of World Food Day commemoration, he said given that smallholder farmers produce about 80 percent of the food in Malawi, protecting them from different types of shocks would positively contribute towards the fight against hunger.

He said it was ironic that smallholder farmers suffer the most from hunger and poverty, worsened by climate change, which calls for concrete actions to change this trend.

Said Denhere: “To make more progress in the fight against hunger, the world needs to make at-risk communities less vulnerable to climate shocks and other emergencies.

“Furthermore, to break out of the never-ending cycle of crisis and response, we need to address the root causes of hunger by multi-year, long-term projects that shield communities from the impact of the climate crisis.”

On his part, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said people need to embrace the culture of diversification in diet and food production, and shift from overdependence on maize as the only food.

“This diversification must start from production. We should start producing a diverse variety of high-yielding, healthy crops that will give us healthy diets while safeguarding our environment,” he said.

Kawale said government is promoting diversification through the development of policies, strategies, and legal frameworks that favor intensified production of legumes, horticulture, livestock and fish in partnership with different stakeholders such as the European Union through funding for Afikepo and Kulima projects.

The World Food Day is commemorated on October 16 and this year’s theme is ‘Water is life, water is food. Leave no one behind’. This theme underscores the vital role of water in sustaining life and its fundamental connection to food sources.

The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee annual food security assessment in  June and July this year found that over four million people, representing 22 percent of Malawi’s 19.6 million population will not  to meet their annual food requirements this year.