Over 1.1 million households receive relief maize-DoDMA
The dispatched maize
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) says it has managed to distribute food to over half of the targeted households under the lean season food distribution program.
This is according to DoDMA deputy director, Fyawupi Mwafongo, who spoke at Kanengo in Lilongwe after witnessing the loading of maize onto a train en route to Liwonde for distribution.
He explained that they opted to include rail transport because it is cost-effective and can carry a significant tonnage of maize at once compared to trucks.
“We are transporting about 4000 metric tonnes to the eastern region using rail transport to ensure that, before the rains start, all areas in the eastern and southern regions receive relief food,” he said.
According to Mwafongo, maize will be transported to Likoma Island next week, while distribution in Chitipa is scheduled to begin in the first week of December.
Meanwhile, National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) Operations Director Cosmas Pelekani says they have sufficient maize and are still procuring more to address any shortfalls.
“About 16,960 metric tonnes of maize have already been dispatched to DoDMA for distribution to Malawians. Additionally, we have released 5,874 metric tonnes to ADMARC for price stabilization,” Pelekani said.
The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report indicated that at least 5.7 million people are food insecure.
In response, DoDMA began distributing food to vulnerable households in September as part of the 2024/25 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Program.
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