WFP gearing up to deliver food aid from next month

The World Food Programme (WFP) is planning to deliver emergency food aid in Malawi from next month, following another poor harvest in the drought-prone south of the country. "The interventions are a combination of food-for-work and targeted food distributions that will target 250,000 people initially," WFP spokesperson Abdelgadir Hamid told IRIN. WFP expects the number of beneficiaries to rise to over a million by January/February next year. Malawi requires 2.2 million mt of maize annually, but crop assessments by the National Statistics Office has put the anticipated maize harvest at 1.73 million mt - 13 percent less than last year's 1.98 million mt. A multi-agency Vulnerability Assessment Committee has estimated that 1.3 to 1.7 million Malawians would be in need of food. WFP has about 55,000 mt in stock to begin its distribution programme. The National Food Reserve Agency has also issued a tender for the purchase of 28,000 mt of maize to replenish the strategic grain reserve. Zambia, which was expecting a bumper crop, has already expressed an interest in supplying Malawi. The European Union was also expected to provide another 28,000 mt of maize for distribution. Most parts of the southern region received inadequate rains, the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET) said in a report earlier this year. It pointed out that the situation was critical in Nsanje, and parts of Machinga and Mangochi districts, which received cumulative rainfall under 25 percent of normal during the October to December period. Late rains also affected the growing season in some parts of the central and northern regions. "Until the next harvest season, which begins in April next year, rural households will need food assistance - the numbers however could increase or decrease based on [food] prices, the availability and accessibility of maize," Hamid said. Under a school feeding scheme, WFP has been supporting 203,000 children in 249 schools located in 10 food insecure districts. "If we have the resources, we hope to target another 50,000 pupils by next year," Hamid said. WFP has also been providing food aid to 133,000 Malawians living with HIV/AIDS in the districts that recorded poor harvests.