USAID gives US $14 million to fight hunger

Malawi, battling to cope with critical food shortages, has been given US $14.6 million in aid from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). On Monday USAID granted the government of Malawi what amounts to Malawian kwacha 1.1 billion as part of an ongoing cooperative effort to target poor sectors of the country. Over three million people in Malawi will need food aid until March next year, a joint Food and Agricultural Organisation and World Food Programme (WFP) assessment has found. Roger Yochelson, USAID Mission Director, said in a statement that the funds would be used to import maize, continue support of the Malawi Environmental Endowment Trust and for family planning activities. The US $14.6 million brings the amount of aid given to Malawi to US $20.6 million. It was the latest tranche of funds under USAID's performance-based Non-project Assistance Programmes in the agricultural and environmental sectors, he said. The funds were released following the "liberalisation of agricultural input markets, expanded market competitiveness, the establishment of a comprehensive policy and legislative framework for environmental issues, strengthening of the capacity of institutions responsible for managing natural resources and the environment, and the achievement of sustainable financing for natural resource management and environmental protection activities," the USAID statement said. "USAID applauds the decision of the government of Malawi to dedicate the majority of the funds to the import of approximately 40,000 mt of maize, to be procured and distributed through commercial market mechanisms, using competitive tendering processes," Yochelson said. The government of Malawi is currently overhauling the operations of the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA), to enhance its capacity to store, manage, and sell maize. President Bakili Muluzi declared a state of disaster in the country on 27 February, following reports that hundreds of people were dying of hunger. Over 500 people have officially been reported dead, although it is feared that the figure could be higher. USAID had immediately responded by providing US $25,000, which was combined with US $37,000 in development funds, to enable Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to divert 630 mt of food stocks to support new supplemental feeding activities. Aid partners such as Medicines Sans Frontiers and Save the Children have also been implementing supplemental feeding activities. USAID's Food for Peace (FFP) said it would replace the 630 mt of maize donated by CRS, valued at about US $360,000. Relief agencies believe the deterioration in the overall humanitarian situation could result in a large-scale food crisis as early as September or October this year, if sufficient assistance is not forthcoming. A consortium of nine NGOs led by the WFP are working with the government of Malawi to coordinate relief activities and to develop a mechanism that would respond to the current crisis. The first shipment of emergency food aid by USAID, totaling 15,040 mt which included 13,500 mt of maize, 1,320 mt of beans, and 720 mt of oil through the WFP, had already arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. "The first 3,000 mt was delivered to Lilongwe on 4 June. Distribution to targeted communities is scheduled to begin in mid-June," the statement said. An additional 3,000 mt of maize from the US government has been redirected from a regular FFP project in Tanzania to the emergency programme in Malawi. USAID has also provided a grant to Africare for US $90,000. Africare will be distributing Likuni Phala (soya-fortified maize meal) for the European Union Supplemental Feeding. Yochelson said USAID was finalising a grant to the NGO consortium to monitor food and non-food needs within the country and strengthen the government of Malawi and local authority capacity to monitor, plan and manage disaster assistance.