DFiD increases funding of £8.1M for drought-affected Malawi
The United Kingdom (UK) Minister for the Department for International Development (DfID) James Wharton has announced a £8.1 million additional funding for Malawi to support families that are grappling with the drought situation. The minister made the announcement on Wednesday after visiting Chikwawa district where he appreciated the extent of the current El Nino drought and the distribution of maize and pulses to affected families by World Food Programme (WFP) and World Vision.
“I am here to see for myself the impact of El Nino drought people are struggling with. There are huge numbers of people that have been badly impacted. The British government is keen to support where we can. We already allocated 35 million pounds to assist people getting food they need. Today, UK government is giving an additional 8.1 million pounds to feed 760,000 people,” Wharton explained. The minister said that structures have to be in place and changes made to minimize impact and mitigate any impact of future climate change.
Ellen Allan, 35, one of the community members in Chikwawa admitted that the weather pattern in the area has changed and resulting into rain shortage and drought. According to Allan, a lot of people are suffering from hunger and a good number of people were not included in the food assistance programme although they are also in dire need.
On top, Chikwawa District Commissioner Bester Mandele and World Vision National Director Fordson Kafweku brief the DFiD delegation led by Minister Wharton.
“Some of our friends were not registered and they don’t have food. The food we receive does not last long because we share ours with them,” explained Allan while describing that the current drought situation is one of the worst in decades. Village Head Sililani Piyasoni expressed her joy following the announcement of additional support from UK government through UKaid.
“I am very glad to hear this news because some of the affected families who were not registered had started selling their livestock to buy food and yet most people in this community rely on the livestock because they are a source of milk and an investment to our children’s education,” Piyasoni explained. The support from UK government comes at a time about 6.5 million Malawians, 40% of the country’s population, are in need of food assistance.
World Vision in partnership with WFP and government of Malawi are running a Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) Food Assistance Project in four districts namely; Chikwawa, Mwanza, Neno and Zomba districts. To date, 404,022, out of a 952,385 people have been reached with 12,899 metric tonnes. In Chikwawa alone, more than 498,900 people representing 90% are receiving this aid.
