At least 1,700 food-insecure households in Balaka district will have a sigh of relief following a whooping MWK927.6 million El-Nino Emergency response project by the Churches Action in Relief and Development (CARD).
Speaking on Wednesday during a District Executive Committee meeting in Balaka, CARD project coordinator Harlex Chimutu disclosed that the project comes in the context of the severe food crisis the area is suffering from due to El-Nino conditions, which affected harvests in the last growing season.
According to Chimutu, this is a complementary project to the already existing project in the areas of Traditional Authorities Nkaya, Mgomwa and Phimbi.
“We are already working in these areas and last year, farmers worked hard in their gardens after we supported them with various farm inputs. However, due to the effects of El Nino, they harvested nothing, so we are coming in to help them recover from the shocks of the drought,” he said.
As part of the intervention, each household is expected to receive unconditional monetary support of 90 thousand Kwacha per month from November 2024 to March 2025.
The organization is implementing the project with support from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Presbyterian World Service and Development (PWS&D).
The funds are enough for a household to purchase a 50-kilogram bag of maize, 10 kilograms of beans/pulses and 2 litres of cooking oil, according to Chimutu.
El Nino weather conditions affected most parts of the country, leaving over 51,000 households in Balaka in dire need of support.
