Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has appealed to donors and other stakeholders to assist with humanitarian assistance in the country’s 27 districts in line with the annual assessment report.
Dodma commissioner Wilsom Moleni, who is also Principal Secretary in the Office of the Vice-President, said in an interview on Friday that the lean period will extend up to March next year.
He said the food requirements will be revised upwards following the increased case load from Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) updated assessment.
“The [food] deficit is too huge and we need a hand from the donors and humanitarian partners,” said Moleni.
He said the updated Mvac report has shown that the number of people has hit 1.8 million from slightly above one million as projected earlier.
Moleni said government has managed to raise $11 million (about K8.1 billion) against the food budget of $33 million (about K24 billion) for emergency assistance.
“Dodma needs support because things may get worse. There is need for 57 000 metric tonnes of maize. Resource mobilisation is still a challenge that is why we are calling upon donors to come and help,” he said.
United Nations acting resident coordinator Benoit Thiry said they will do everything possible to assist the people.
He said the World Food Programme has already rolled out the cash transfer programme in some districts to assist the affected households.
Care Malawi country director Matthew Pickard said food insecurity has hit the whole of southern Africa, with many of the families unable to meet their food needs.
“There are immediate interventions for the short- term to help families meet the food gap,” he said.
