Paramount Chief Kyungu of Karonga has expressed worry over prolonged dry spell which has hit most parts of the district raising fears that the district may experience reduced crop production. Speaking in an interview, Monday, Kyungu said the dry spell has affected crops mainly maize and the crop has already started wilting at tasseling stage […]
President Peter Mutharika has called upon all Malawians and people of good will to hold special prayers to ensure the nation is blessed with good rains and a disaster free 2018-19 rainy season. Impoverished Malawi is periodically hit by food shortages as the tropical southern African country relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture and most of […]
Mchinji District Council has embarked on a relief maize distribution exercise to 3 181 households facing food shortage in the district. Government, through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma), launched the distribution exercise on September 26 2018 following a bad 2017/18 farming season in which many parts of the country experienced prolonged dry spells […]
Parliament’s Agriculture committee has questioned the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) figures which put figures of Malawians needing food aid at 3.3 million, saying the numbers could be higher. The committee chairman Joseph Chidanti Malunga said the situation on the ground is very different and grim from what the assessment committee found. “The challenge on […]
Minister of Agriculture Irrigation and Water Development Joseph Mwanamveka on Friday, September 21 led a team of members from his ministry to welcome this year’s fertiliser coupons for Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) that arrived by Emirates Boeng 777FSKY cargo A6 plane. In his remarks at Kamuzu International Airport, Mwanamveka said by receiving the four million coupons […]
Malawi’s leading daily newspaper has passed its verding that food insecurity report by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) is “embarrasing” following decreased production of the country’s staple food, maize by 24.5 percent. The decreased food production is attributed to damage caused by drought , crop-eating armyworms and reduction in hectrage due to price disincentives. […]
A leading Malawi daily newspaper has called for government to investigate reports that 20 metric tonnes (MT) of expired pesticides – meant me to be destroyed – were stolen from the Smallholder Farmers Fertiliser Revolving Fund of Malawi (SFFRFM) warehouse and have now flooded the market where unsuspecting framers are buying. In a report published […]
Government says maize yields, the staple grain, across the country have dropped by a significant 20 per cent. Minister of agriculture Joseph Mwanamveka attributed the drop in maize yields to drought in some parts and army worms in other parts. Mwanamveka also said other crop yields are also expected in different degrees due to drought […]
The Irish government through Irish Aid says it is impressed with the pace and interest people in the country have towards the issue of food diversification. Irish Aid development specialist, Anne Holmes, was speaking in Lilongwe during an interface with communities in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Mkukula. The Irish Aid has partnered with […]
Police in Lilongwe have arrested at least 24 illegal farm produce traders as the government tightens grip on the buying and selling of maize, the country’s staple food and marker of food inflation. Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Irrigation spokesperson Osborn Tsoka confirmed the crack-down on illegal buyers and sellers of farm produce, saying they […]
The Peoples Republic of China have donated over 2 000 bags of rice to the people of Karonga following Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) 2017 report that projected that 20 of the 28 districts in the country will experience hard-hitting food shortages. Karonga, a lakeshore district in the northern region which has persistently been hit […]
Malawi government may implement a new Executive order for the maize export ban to avoid creating a shortage of the staple grain, President Peter Mutharika has hinted. Mutharika said during the launch of the National Security Policy in Lilongwe on Tuesday that maize is a security commodity in Malawi hence the need to safeguard it […]
Blantyre Agricultural Development Division (BLADD) says 32 935 hectares of crops in the divison has been severely hit by the prolonged dry spell; rendering over 129 852 families vulnerable to food insecurity. BLADDProgram Manager, Erick Haraman said in an interview on Thursday that the affected families shuld start planting drought resistant crops such as cassava, […]
Despite steady economic forecasts the mid year budget review confirms that the Malawi country’s economy is stressed with the looming shortage of food and Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe has indicated that he will propose some budget cuts when he presents the 2017/18 Mid-Year Budget Statement next week Friday. Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Joseph […]
Maize production for 2017/2018 growing season will reduce by over 283,941 metric tonnes due to prolonged dry spells including fall armyworms that have 18 districts and estimates that 1.9 million families face food shortage , the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Joseph Mwanamvekha told Parliamnet on Monday. Mwanamvekha said this when he made […]
President Peter Mutharika has insisted that his government is still in control of the food situation, saying Malawians should not press the panic button over maize harvest as the country has about 234 000 metric tonnes (MT)of maize stock in grain reserves enough to feed the nation. Mutharika said at a political rally organised by […]
Travelling on Blantyre- Zomba road, one is haunted by a pungent smell from piling waste at Mzedi Dumpsite. But the filthy place, where Blantyre City Council (BCC) dumps truckloads of waste every day, is always crammed with people who seem unperturbed by the stench. The scavengers scramble for the leftovers. Joseph Bitilinyu, aged around 25, […]
President Prof Arthur Peter Mutharika on Sunday assured Malawians and the world that no one will die of hunger this year as the country has enough maize in stock. Speaking during a developmental rally at Lunzu Primary Ground in Blantyre North East constituency, the President said unlike last year, many parts in the country have […]