US gives Malawi K3.3bn additional food assistance
United States of America (USA) Ambassador Virginia Palmer last week announced her government’s new donation of $4.6 million (about K3.3 billion) to assist Malawians in need of humanitarian food assistance.
The donation is in response to the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee’s (Mvac) report that 6.7 million Malawians are in need of humanitarian food assistance to alleviate suffering through March 2017.
It brings the USA Government’s total contribution to the 2016/17 Food Insecurity Response Plan (Firp) to $126 million (about K94.5 billion), equivalent to about one third of the plan’s $395 million (about K296.2 billion) estimated cost.
According to a statement from the US Embassy released on Thursday, the funds will be channelled through the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
“Of the $4.6 million, $2.5 million [about K1.8 billion] will be used to transport and distribute 10 800 metric tonnes of maize from the Malawian Government’s Strategic Grain Reserves, and $2.1 million [about K1.5 billion] is education funding repurposed to fill a critical gap in Malawi’s school feeding programme,” said the statement.
In her remarks when she announced the donation, Palmer said her government continues to stand by Malawians in their time of need. n
