The World Food Programme (WFP) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have said Malawi is among 10 countries in the world to face acute food shortage this year.

In the Hunger Hotspots Outlook for June to November 2023, the two organisations predict that at least 3.8 million people in the country will face acute food shortage, while 1.8 million children and women need nutrition assistance.

Around 13 million people are projected to be experiencing crisis levels of hunger across five Sahelian countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

The outlook reads in part: “Elevated prices, due to unsustainable debt levels and foreign-exchange shortages, are expected to constrain households’ access to food and farmers’ ability to purchase agricultural inputs for the upcoming winter season.

“While overall food inflation [for Malawi] which stood already at 32 percent in March 2023, about 262 food items experienced record high levels in prices with maize, the main staple, at 300 percent above the 2022 levels in March 2023.”

The outlook further forecasts for Malawi, below-average cumulative rainfall for the November 2023 to March 2024 rainy season, which could lead to crop failure next year.

But in an interview yesterday, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale said they are aware of the low rainfall and hunger forecasts.

He said: “That’s why we are encouraging all farmers who can do winter cropping to do so. We are working with existing irrigation schemes to grow more crops to avert food shortage.

“The Department of Disaster Management Affairs is already assisting families that lost all crops. Apart from that, the ministry is also working on winter crops.”

He further assured farmers that government was working around the clock to ensure they receive fertiliser and seeds under the Affordable Inputs Programme between September and November. In February, before Cyclone Freddy struck Malawi on March 12, Ministry of Agriculture preliminary crop estimates projected a maize surplus of 360 000 metric tonnes (MT) to produce 3.56 million MT of the staple grain against the national requirement of 3.2 million MT.

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