Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development says it will release the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) report on the country’s food situation by the end of this month.
In an interview on Wednesday, the ministry’s spokesperson Davis Sado said the report is currently in draft form.
“We are currently finalising the technical aspects of the report,” he said.
In its report released in March this year, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) indicated that food security is expected to worsen, especially in flood-affected districts in the Southern Region.
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has reached out to 3.3 million people identified in the Mvac report of 2018/19 lean season.
Dodma spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula said the department, in collaboration with humanitarian partners, will develop the 2019/20 lean season insecurity response plan to support affected families and alleviate food insecurity in most affected areas.
“We are ready to reach out to the affected and our plan will be developed based on the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report on food situation which is yet to be released by government,” he said.
Meanwhile, increasing maize demand has continued to push up prices of the staple grain, with recent figures from the International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri) indicating a 22 percent average increase in July. This year’s maize surplus was estimated at 355 000 metric tonnes (MT) out of a total output of 3.3 million MT.
