Food-for-work programme eases crisis

A food-for-work programme in Malawi has helped to address a significant household food gap, especially in the southern region, according to a report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET). "Our food-for-work programme has been concentrating on projects which create assets, such as roads, afforestation or any other requirements identified by communities, particularly in the southern region," World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Antonella D'Aprile told IRIN. As part of its emergency operations in Malawi, WFP ran a food-for-work programme and fed about 600,000 vulnerable people last year. The initiative is continuing under a three-year Protracted Recovery and Relief Operation, which began this month. The programme has helped reduce the number of households looking for "ganyu" or seasonal labour, which has also contributed to stabilising wage rates and maize prices, FEWS NET noted. In some areas, like Nsanje district in the southern region, the winter crop harvest, especially sweet potatoes, has also greatly improved food security, the early warning unit commented. Maize sourced by private traders through informal cross-border trade in the central region or from neighboring countries, like Mozambique, is readily available in the markets. The country experienced a national food deficit equivalent to about 257,000 mt of maize this season, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Food Security. At the household level, the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee projected in May 2004 that this deficit would translate into between 1.3 and 1.7 million people requiring emergency food assistance in 2005. "The number of households requiring food aid is expected to peak around January/February, making it critical to ensure that adequate stocks are strategically pre-positioned to quickly and effectively respond to these increasing food needs," FEWS NET pointed out. WFP is expected to distribute 51,000 mt of food, including cereal, pulses, oil and beans in the first quarter of 2005. "Our programmes [food-for-work and targeted feeding] will cover 1.3 million people in the first quarter," said D'Aprile.