BLANTYRE—(MaraviPost)—As many Malawians have already started taking one meal a day due to hunger which has hit hard the Southern Africa country, the Department of Disasters Management Affairs has disclosed that the food aid distribution exercise will start soon this month.Relief and Rehabilitation Principal Officer in the department Fyabupi Mwafongo said the exercise will start in Nsanje district.
According to Mwafongo, the district will be the first to receive the food aid because it was greatly affected by the natural disasters in the last growing season.
“We are going to start the food distribution exercise in Nsanje this month of July and come August, Chikhwawa and Balaka will join,” he explained.
Mwafongo added that the food that people in the districts will receive will at least help them to survive for few days.
In the 2015/17 growing season Malawi experienced drought and floods which led to low production of food and left over half of Malawi’s population facing hunger.
Though people are struggling to get the staple food because of the high prices on the market dominated by vendors, the country’s Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) depots are still closed, a development which is putting many Malawians at a disadvantage.
Meanwhile, United States of America second lady Jill Bidden has arrived in the country to appreciate the gravity of the hunger situation.
According to a statement from the US Embassy in Lilongwe, during her tour, Biden is expected to highlight partnerships on global health and food security to reduce hunger and lift people out of poverty.
40 percent of Malawians, approximately 7 million people, are in need of emergency food assistance, a situation that requires largest humanitarian response.