BLANTYRE (Maravipost)–President Peter Mutharika has assured Malawians that no person will die of hunger this year as his administration will put in place measure to assist food insecure households.
The country is facing a 120,000 metric tonnes food deficit, but Mutharika said his government with support from other organizations will ensure that all those affected have enough to take them to the next harvesting season.
Mutharika spoke on Wednesday at Sanjika Palace where he met a high-powered delegation of the Global Hunger project who are in the country for their annual review meeting.
The Malawi leader said by choosing to hold this meeting in Malawi, the team will have first-hand information on the hunger situation and how the floods and drought have impacted Malawians.
He then applauded the Hunger Project for the work it is doing in Malawi in partnership with other local establishments to assist flood victims and others affected by hunger.
”Let me begin by applauding the work that Hunger Project is doing in Malawi and the world over. I have been deeply touched by the holistic approach that Hunger Project uses to empower people in our communities.
“You are not just giving our communities fish, but teaching them how to fish, and making them self reliant in the long term. I believe this is the most sustainable way of developing our countries. We need to wean ourselves from the spirit of dependency,” he said.
The president expressed joy to hear that the Hunger Project is now working with a total of 264,000-people in 10 epicenters in 6 districts in Malawi.
“I am particularly pleased to hear that one of your 10 epicenters, Champiti epicenter in Ntcheu district, where you have been working since 2007 will soon in 2016 be declared ‘self reliant’. This is commendable because the ultimate goal of every NGOs work should be to ensure that the community they work with are empowered to the level they can manage their own next steps.”
The Malawi leader said he was informed that the Hunger Project Global is one of the key players in the Global Debate Platform for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said Malawi as a nation will do its own prioritization out of the 17 goals, so she can concentrate her efforts meaningfully.
“In our previous MGDS we have called them “priorities with priorities”. Coincidentally, our MGDS 2 expires in the same year that we will have the SDGs adopted (2016). This will be our opportunity to align our national development priorities with the SDGs,” he added.
The delegation will attend a high-level conference on 15th May, 2015 with various heads of institutions including government ministries, the private sector, the academia, the donor community, civil society, and the media, who will be discussing on “Localisation of SDGs in Malawi – Challenges & Opportunities”
In his remarks, Chairman of the Global Hunger Project Steve Sherwood said his organization will work with government in its short term programmes to assist people who are on the verge of facing hunger this year.
He added that the organization together with its partners is working to find long lasting solutions of how they can work with the government to end hunger among rural communities.
