Bad news from Malawi

Everyone has been expecting this, but still this is a very sad and scary bit of reality.

UN warns of Malawi food crisis

LILONGWE - Malawi is facing its worst food crisis in over 10 years, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said today.

This was caused by drought, floods, consecutive poor harvests, endemic poverty and the effects of HIV/AIDS.

More than 4,2 million people, or over 34% of the population, were unable to meet their food needs and maize production was the lowest in a decade.

"Early and above average rains had raised hopes for a good crop, but the rains failed during the critical period from late January to the end of February when the maize crop was pollinating and forming cobs," said Tesfai Ghermazien, FAO emergency coordinator in Malawi.

Exceptionally heavy rains in December and early January caused flooding and crop losses, especially in the southern and central parts of the country.

"We need urgent assistance from the donor community to prevent a further escalation of the crisis and to avert widespread hunger and malnutrition, especially among children under the age of five," Ghermazien said.

Interventions needed include food aid, agricultural inputs, such as seeds and fertilisers, and assistance with crop diversification.

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4 Response to Bad news from Malawi

  1. [...] space, you have seen my buildup to the famine that is happening in Malawi. First there was an article warning of what is to come, then it George told me about his family’ [...]

  2. colleen says:

    I grew up in Malawi.

    My hope is to try and help irrigate the country one pump at a time so people are not dependant on the government that has failed them for so long.

    You are welcome to visit Watering Malawi at burroughslife.com. Keep up your good work.

  3. Mike says:

    You're a blogger! We need to get you to join us at the next Malawi Bloggers lunch! Thanks so much for sharing your website - one pump at a time is a great step, Malawi needs pumps - keep it up! I would love to come and visit your project. Thanks for visiting!

  4. Mike says:

    Colleen - you're a blogger! We need to get you to join us at the next Malawi Bloggers lunch! Thanks so much for sharing your website - one pump at a time is a great step, Malawi needs pumps - keep it up! Thanks for visiting!

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