Seasonal floods hit the south

More than 200 people from at least two villages in Malawi's southern Chikwawa district have fled their homes following rains in the past few days. The low-lying region, surrounded by highlands, is a flood plain and its people have been repeatedly displaced by flooding for the past two years. World Food Programme (WFP) officer-in-charge Ayoub Al-Jaloudi told IRIN on Thursday that an assessment team was already in the district and would draft recommendations for any necessary interventions. He said the exact impact of the flooding was not yet clear. The rains are certain to impact further on food insecurity in the district, with Malawi already in the grip of severe maize shortages. Al-Jaloudi told IRIN that while WFP continued with its supplementary and food-for-work schemes in the country, it's plans to conduct emergency feeding operations in January, February and March had not yet got off the ground. He said he expected final approval of the plan in the next few days. WFP recently launched an appeal for about 11,375 mt of food to launch its emergency operation. The operation is to take the form of food-for-work programmes and hopes to target more than 250,000 people, mostly in Malawi's south. Chikwawa District Commissioner and chairperson of the flood mitigation task force, Kiswell Dakamau, told IRIN: "This district is a flood plain and some areas in the district are even more prone to floods than others." However, he added that the impact of floods this year were expected to be less than last year because of contingency plans drafted by flood mitigation task forces in flood plain districts. "This year we have been a bit proactive, unlike last year when we were taken unawares," he said. He said a report awaiting approval by the Chikwawa district assembly had included in its recommendations civic education and also the resettlement of people from flood plains to higher land. In the meantime, though, he said: "We have engaged four local NGOs (non-governmental organisations) which are helping disseminate information, complementing efforts from the government and the assembly. It is cheaper this way and people get the message in a vernacular language." Referring to the many communities who suffer from flooding, even when Malawi experiences normal rainfall, he said: "All people living in low-lying land (or Dimbas as they are called in Malawi) should move out of these areas, especially during this period of the year. After that they can go back, but we need to prevent the flood problem from exacerbating. They really should move out. "Those people who have constructed their houses in the Dimbas should move out entirely. We are pleading with them to move out entirely and to resettle on higher land.