Almost 1.5 million people in need of food assistance
Lilongwe (October 3, 2013) - CARE Malawi has started a food distribution programme in Malawi’s central region district of Kasungu with over 700 beneficiaries receiving the much needed food aid on the first day of the exercise. CARE Malawi is the first international aid organization to start distributing food aid following the national launch of the targeted food distribution on Monday, October 1, 2013. According to the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee, almost 1.5 million people are in need of food due to poor harvests and sparse rainfall in northern and central Malawi.
In partnership with the World Food Program and the Malawi government, CARE Malawi will be distributing 5,011 metric tons of food aid to about 82,322 people in the Malawi’s central districts of Dowa and Kasungu as part of the national response to food shortages that have affected a total of almost 144,004 households in the two districts.
CARE Malawi’s Country Director Michael Rewald said CARE is honored to be part of the response to the food shortage that has left many people in Malawi in need of food aid.
“CARE Malawi is honored to be partnering with the Government of Malawi, district and local authorities, the World Food Program and other NGOs to ensure that the food needs of vulnerable Malawians are met in a timely and appropriate manner. We will ensure that the food so generously supplied by our donors reaches those who are most in need, especially women and girls who are disproportionately affected food shortages,” said Rewald. He adds that while meeting the immediate food needs of the affected population is a crucial effort, these distributions are only a short term measure as they do not address the underlying causes of food insecurity and hunger.
“We commit to link the food distribution program with our long term development programs in Kasungu district in order to ensure that food distributions are not needed next year, or anytime in the future. We need to address the underlying causes of food insecurity, such as poverty and climate change. In the end, it is our goal to empower women and men so they can feed themselves in times of crises,” added Rewald.
A report released by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC), comprising government, inter-government, academic and non-profit member organizations, estimates that despite national food self sufficiency, a total of 1,461,940 people (approximately 266,000 households) in 21 districts will not be able to meet their food requirements during the period from April 2013 to March 2014.
Media contacts: Innocent Mbvundula Communications and Media Advisor, CARE Malawi;
email, [email protected]; phone +265 (0) 9999 55 610/ +265 (0) 1 774 637/738.
Skype ID innocent.mbvundula2
To learn more about CARE's operations in Malawi, please click here.