Youth for Development and Productivity (YODEP) gave cash amounting to K180,000 to each of the 540 households that were affected by drought at group village heads Kadewere and Kimu at Traditional Authority, Mwambo in Zomba.
Speaking during the event, YODEP Programs Manager, Joy Mwandama said people in the two areas did not harvest enough to keep them going due to drought-induced hunger in most parts of Zomba.
He, therefore, advised the cash recipients to buy food for their families.
Mwandama disclosed that 150 households (out of the 540 households) received K136,000 to buy fertilisers and maize seeds for irrigation farming to ensure sufficient food at the household level.
“Use the cash for intended purposes. Don’t use the cash for other things that are contrary to the welfare of the family,” he advised those who received the cash.
Mwandama also cautioned local leaders against interfering with the cash transfer programme after observing that some traditional leaders demand cash from the beneficiaries.
He said such traditional leaders would be handed to the police so that they should be prosecuted, adding that this would serve as a lesson to those who have the habit of soliciting cash from cash transfer beneficiaries.
Mwandama, therefore, hailed Save the Children for entrusting YODEP to carry out the social cash transfer programme at Traditional Authority Mwambo.
An official from Zomba District Council, Great Munthali, thanked YODEP for implementing the cash transfer programme in T/A Mwambo, saying the intervention was timely.
He said YODEP was the first Non-governmental organisation to respond to the hunger situation in Zomba through a cash transfer programme after Malawi was declared a state of disaster following prolonged drought in most parts of the Southern Region.
One of the recipients, Mwadaine Kamoto, also thanked YODEP for responding to the hunger situation in the Mwambo area, saying the cash will allow households to buy food that should keep them going.
She said most households in the area had no food to keep them going and advised her fellow recipients to use the cash for intended purposes including buying fertiliser rather than spending on “useless things”
