Dowa CSOs query hunger statistics

Dowa Civil Society Network has disputed as incorrect the number of people affected by hunger in the district which the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) recently presented to the district executive committee (DEC).

Network chairperson Maxwell Kadutsa has since asked agricultural extension planning area (EPA) officers and other relevant authorities supplying data to Mvac to be transparent and accountable so that figures reflect what is on the ground.

Mvac records indicate that 112 251 people are facing hunger in the district and are in need of food aid.

Kadutsa said over the weekend that the figure was on the lower side compared to the actual number of people awaiting relief food.

He also alleged that some areas in the district had registered more people than others, citing Traditional Authority (T/A) Chakhaza where he claimed people were benefiting more.

Dowa assistant district agricultural development officer Sellina Malaga, said T/A Chakhaza has two EPAs, a situation which is different from other EPAs, hence registering more beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, World Food Programme (WFP) monitoring and evaluation officer Ronald Kamwendo has assured people in the district that lessons learnt from the first distribution month of January have been corrected for easy implementation of the exercise in February and March.

WFP is one of the humanitarian agencies distributing relief food to families affected by hunger nationwide. n