More than 36,600 households in Salima district will receive two bags of maize each from Malawi Government between January and February next year.
Speaking during an orientation of Area Civil Protection Committee and Area Development Committees in the area of Senior Chief Kalonga, Disaster Risk Management Officer, Gloria Chinangwa indicated that the initiative is part of government’s response to food insufficiency as projected by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee’s food report.
Chinangwa highlighted that the distribution exercise will be facilitated by Salima District Council through the office of Disaster Risk Management in all the 12 Traditional Authorities of the district and she emphasized on the need for the maize to be distributed to the needy.
“The maize should be distributed to ultra-poor households, orphans, people with chronic illnesses, the elderly and households with person’s with disabilities just to mention a few,” said Chinangwa.
She added that before commencement of the distribution exercise, the District Civil Protection Committee will conduct a critical examination of the list of beneficiaries to ensure that the recipients are eligible.
“We will ensure that the distribution exercise will go as planned, we don’t want to receive reports that the maize has been distributed to wrong people” she added.
In his remarks, Traditional Authority (T/A) Maganga indicated that many households in the area are affected by hunger and it would be greatly appreciated if the initiative would consider adding more beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report indicates that 4.4 million Malawians are likely to face hunger in the 2023/24 consumption period.
