Malawi food insecurity falls 35% but 2.6m still face hunger, government warns

The number of Malawians facing hunger during the 2026/27 lean season has fallen by 35 per cent year on year, though 2.6m people — about 14 per cent of the projected population — will still struggle to meet their annual food requirements, according to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Decentralization.

The latest assessment by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) shows 2.6m people are expected to face food insecurity between October 2026 and March 2027, down from 4,009,537 during the previous lean season.

The assessment, conducted between May and June, attributes the improvement largely to favourable climatic conditions, including normal to above-average rainfall during the 2025/26 agricultural season.

In rural areas, 2,531,266 people are projected to face food insecurity, a 36 per cent decline on the previous lean season.

The picture in urban areas is less encouraging, however: the number of food-insecure people in Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu rose 27 per cent to 81,405, underscoring growing pressure on urban households even as the national outlook improves — a divergence that officials will need to address as the country’s cities continue to expand.

The improvement in the rural outlook coincides with stronger maize production.

Ministry of Agriculture estimates show the country harvested 3,300,618 tonnes of maize in the 2025/26 season, up about 15 per cent from 2,859,948 tonnes a year earlier.

Last year’s crisis was driven by below-average agricultural output and erratic rainfall, according to MVAC.

The stronger harvest has substantially reduced the volume of food aid required.

The government estimates 97,887 tonnes of food, worth about MWK124.3bn ($ figure not disclosed), will be needed during the coming lean period, down sharply from roughly 200,000 tonnes valued at MWK387.2bn a year earlier.

The duration for which affected households are expected to need support has also shortened, to three to four months from three to six months previously.

Despite the improvement, officials caution that the scale of the challenge remains significant, with millions of people still requiring assistance before the next harvest.

The ministry said the government had already begun measures to support vulnerable households, but was seeking additional funding from development partners and the local private sector.

Finance minister Joseph Mathyola Mwanamvekha thanked stakeholders supporting efforts to tackle food insecurity, saying continued collaboration would be critical to assisting vulnerable households through the lean season.

The data point to a mixed picture for policymakers: a marked recovery from last year’s food crisis, tempered by a food-security challenge that, at 2.6m people, remains substantial by any measure.