Mutharika bold ‘no-one in Malawi will die of starvation’ this year
President Arthur Peter Mutharika has assured Malawians that “no person will die of hunger this year, “as his administration will put in place measure to assist people who have been affected by hunger.
The President added that although the country is facing a 120,000 metric tonnes food deficit, the government, working with other organizations, will ensure that all those affected have enough to take them to the next harvesting season.
Mutharika was speaking at Sanjika Palace when he met a high-powered delegation of the Global Hunger project who are in the country for their annual review meeting.
The Head of State 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 the 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 ten 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.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
Songiso ukunena zoona. Moti ine ndimapsya nazo mtima ngati nd ikwapule andale onse! Stupid politicians. Mudzakonda liti dziko lanu afisi inu?????
Iwe Changaputwa ndi mbuzi ya munthu anthu amadya madeya kuti?aliyense akudziwa pano inde zinthu zina zinkavuta koma kumbali ya chakudya Bingu ankayesesa iwe wayiwala kuti ndi mayi ako anagulisa chimanga chomwe anachipeza nkumati chinawola?uzifufuza kaye usanapange comment
That is a dangerous statement Mr president. People will die. It is those you don’t know that will die. It is those people who will be politically excluded from your food relief mechanisms that will die. Those people who cannot be reached by relief efforts. There will always be such people and therefore your statement just serves your political face but that is not the reality of what will happen. After all don’t we know that crooks will always get rich out of the relief efforts? How will this happen if not through food deprivation of the deserving hungry people?
U compensate Peter with presidency, he is not a visionary guy. Akuti poti mkulu wake anali wa nzeru ndiye alamulire .kkkk zikugwilizana?
This is Mid- May and you don’t have a plan yet??? And then you lie to the nation that no one will die of hunger,,, really. A visionary leader should have put a plan in December. I’m so sick of this good for nothing bastards
A country full of rivers and a very big lake yet hunger is always there.Priority set upside down.Why cant the government start irrigation and be farming twice a year instead of waiting for the non predictable erratic rains?Its shame everytime begging from the mzungu to feed your hunger withering people.Malawi has churned agricultural graduates from Bunda since time immemorial and some have titles of professorship.What are they doing for their country?They are just mere contented by papers.Is education really helping us in Malawi or it is there to get certificates and get employed only and drink some cheap liquor in… Read more »
Ngankhale malemu akulu ako amkatelo pofuna kuyankhula kwa anthufe, ponena mkumati, no one in dis country of Malawi wll die brcouse of hunger. Zosatila zake anthu adawadyesa madeya, kunali kubwila madeya chilembwe nachoso cikusowa, miyoyo ya anthu inasakazika. Tikuonela bola moyo