Floods cause havoc

Heavy rains are causing havoc in rural Malawi as farmlands and homes are washed away, leading to homelessness, food insecurity and diseases. A World Food Programme (WFP) official in Lilongwe told IRIN on Monday that there has been sporadic flooding that started at the end of January in the Zomba district along Lake Chirua. “Although the government has not made an appeal for disaster mitigation, the WFP is assisting 151,388 households whose gardens and houses have been washed away in the flooding,” the official said, adding that beneficiaries number about 756,940 people. The official said WFP is providing food to malnourished children in 23 out of the 25 districts in the country, covering 81 areas in which people whose daily calories intake per day is less than 2,200.