Churches appeal for flood relief

A group of Malawian churches has launched an appeal for US $248,788 to assist flood victims in the northern district of Karonga with relief food and agricultural seeds, a church aid worker told IRIN on Tuesday. Melton Luhanga of Malawi’s Churches Action in Relief and Development (CARD) told IRIN that no significant assistance has been given to Karonga villagers, the region most affected by the floods earlier this year. “The situation is quite pathetic in the villages around Karonga. About 13,223 families have lost their household gardens on which they depend for food,” Luhanga said. Luhanga said many of the planted crops, due for harvest this month, had been destroyed in the floods. “The most critically affected families are in the low-lying traditional authority of Kilipula. We need to help them to grow their own food and tide them over in the meantime with relief food,” he said. According to Luhanga, CARD plans to provide each of the affected farming families with a one-off distribution of maize grain for food, and the provision of rice and maize seeds to promote agricultural production. “This distribution will depend on the response we receive to the appeal. If we don’t get a positive response, these families will starve.” Luhanga added that the government lacks resources to assist the families to provide for their needs. “The government did provide food and clothing donated by concerned people. However, the food was sufficient only for a short period following the flooding.” CARD said it needs 66 mt of maize, 33 mt of rice seed and 661.15 mt of maize for food. Luhanga added that CARD will procure all the relief items from Malawi’s Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) and other private traders in the country. “CARD will transport the relief items from the point of purchase to distribution points in Karonga,” Luhanga said.