Ntcheu district commissioner Francis Matewere says the food response programme government has rolled out in the district will help the ultra-poor buy food during the lean season.

He said this on Friday during a District Executive Committee meeting where the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) and the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare  briefed members on the 2021/22 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme.

Matewere: Buy farm inputs

“They can also use the money to buy cheap farm inputs under the Affordable Input Programme,” said Matewere.

Dodma relief and rehabilitation officer Ephod  Kachigwada said the 2021 Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report indicated that over 1.4 million people in the country will require food assistance ranging for about three months during the 2021/22 consumption year.

“In Ntcheu, the programme is targeting about 14 300 households,” he said.

Kachigwada said a household will receive K18 000 per month to enable them to buy food.

Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare deputy director of social welfare Laurent Kansinjilo said government treated the lean season as an emergency.

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