Widespread hunger looms as Govt confirms its grain reserves have run out of maize
Officials from National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) have conceded the grain reserves have run out of maize stocks.
NFRA acting chief executive officer David Logan said stocks in the strategic grain reserve have drastically reduced from around 119 000 metric tonnes accumulated during the 2023 farming season to below 30 000 metric tons.
Loga has, however, said people should not panic, saying the government is importing relief food from neighbouring countries.
Chairperson for the parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Sameer Suleiman, has faulted the government for what he says is being insensitive to the hunger situation in the country.
An estimated 4.4 million Malawians are likely to face hunger in the 2023/24 consumption period, representing 22 percent of the country’s projected population of 19.6 million.
Malawi Government committed K167.55 billion for support mechanisms.
The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) annual food security assessment results shows that the current projection represents a 15 percent increase compared to the previous consumption period when 3.9 million people faced hunger.
The report came at a time when there is maize scarcity on the market which has led some traders to sell a 50 kilogramme bag of the staple grain at prices ranging from K30 000 to K40 000.
Reads Mvac’s Report: “In order to protect livelihoods, the vulnerable population will require humanitarian food assistance that has been estimated at 219,023 metric tonnes [MT] of maize with an estimated cash value of K167.55 billion.
“The food assistance will be required for a period ranging from two to six months.”
Out of the estimated food insecure population, 470 000 are from the four cities of Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu while 3.9 million are from rural areas across the country.
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