Vulnerability assessment launched

Relief agencies are conducting a vulnerability assessment in Malawi to determine the food security situation following erratic rains this season. World Food Programme (WFP) information officer Antonella D'aprile told IRIN that humanitarian agencies, as well as the government's Department of Poverty and Disaster Management Affairs, began the assessment on Tuesday, and will cover the country's three regions. The teams are expected to produce a national report by the end of the month. Most parts of the country received planting rains a month late, around mid-December, with some areas not receiving rains at all by mid-January, a report released this week by the Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWS NET) said. Malawi has a rain-fed agricultural economy. Most parts of the southern region have only received isolated light rains, and FEWS NET said 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. "Although the central and northern regions have received near-normal to normal cumulative rainfall (above 50 percent of normal), these rains have been inconsistent, and their poor temporal distribution may negatively affect yields," the early warning unit said. The government has released maize stocks from the Strategic Grain Reserves (SGR) to be distributed through the depots of the food marketing agency, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC). The SGR appears to have sufficient maize in stock to take the country through the current lean season, and the government has imposed restrictions on maize exports in response to drought concerns. Subsidised ADMARC maize is being bought up as soon as it is made available and the increased demand last month doubled the market price of the staple food, FEWS NET said. Price rises have been particularly steep in the southern districts.