The Malawi government says it is committed to making sure that maize is available and accessible to all Malawians in the country.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said this in Parliament on Tuesday when he was presenting a ministerial statement on maize availability in the country.
He further hinted that his ministry is exploring further imports and alternative strategies to bolster the reserves and stabilise food prices across the country through the winter production where the National Food Reserve Agency (NRFA) will buy maize from some commercial farmers with over USD 6.8 million already secured.
“Madam Speaker, I would like to assure this house that the government remains fully committed to safeguarding the food security of our nation. We are confident that through collaborative efforts with development partners, ADMARC, NFRA, and other key stakeholders, we can adequately address the maize shortage and ensure that no Malawian goes to bed hungry. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide regular updates on our progress,” said Kawale.
He added that as a government, they believe they can mitigate the impact of El Niño and protect the lives and livelihoods of people with continued support from partners.
Kawale said the government has already released about 55,130 metric tons to kick-start responses on the ground, 45,130 metric tons for humanitarian purposes through DoDMA and 10,000 metric tons for price stabilization in hot spot areas through ADMARC, especially in the Southern Region and Lakeshore districts.
According to the Minister, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) has assessed the food security situation and identified approximately 5.7 million people who are food insecure across the country.
“The MVAC further estimates that these food-insecure households will need 261,574.29 metric tonnes of maize to meet their food needs throughout the program. This includes both in-kind food distributions and cash transfer interventions,” he explained.
In his response to the Minister, the Chairperson of the Agriculture Committee, Sameer Suleman, said Kawale’s statement is empty because it gives no hope to Malawians.
“What we were waiting for is the Minister to say from this day to this day we are starting to distribute maize that we have. But as you heard from the statement, the country has only about 50,000 metric tons, and we need over 230,000 metric tons; where is the deficit going to come from? That’s what we want to hear,” said Suleman.
Member of Parliament from Machinga East, Esther Jolobala, said the Minister does not understand the level of hunger communities are facing out there and what people are eating due to lack of maize.
“As we speak, the level of hunger in Machinga is at a critical point whereby even ourselves, we are failing to support the needy communities, and we would like the government to help these people as soon as possible because they are dying of hunger,” said Jolobala.
