Dodma responds to 16 000 affected families in Thyolo
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has distributed over 816 metric tonnes (MT) of rice to 16 336 households affected by disasters in Thyolo as part of 2017/18 lean season food insecurity response.
Dodma received 3 270 MT (about 64 000 bags of 50 kilogrammes each) of rice worth $4.32 million from the Chinese government to reach out to 130 800 families who were part of over one million people at risk of food insecurity in the 2017/18 lean season.
In an interview on Thursday, Dodma spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula said China assisted the department with rice following its budget shortfall when it had to reach out to 1 043 000 people affected by disasters, mostly the fall army-worms.
He said: “Our budget was about $13 million, but we got about $9 million from Department for International Development (DfID) and partners. We assisted some households but we had a deficit of $4 million to respond to 10 districts. China assisted us with 3 270 MT of rice which we have been distributing to disaster victims in the other districts.”
Other districts that have benefited from the Chinese donation are Ntcheu, Mangochi, Kasungu, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Karonga Chiradzulu and Rumphi.
Khamula said government pumped in about K168 million for logistics.
In a separate interview, group village head Nkaluzwa in Traditional Authority Changata in Thyolo thanked Dodma for the intervention.
