Over 2.6 million Malawians—about 15 percent of the population—would face hunger between October 2020 and March 2021, due to a slowdown in economic activities triggered by both domestic and global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is according to a report by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) to be officially released this week.

It shows that there is a jump in number of vulnerable people which has also been coupled with limited access to services.

During the 2019/20 consumption season, about 1.1 million Malawians were food insecure.

Mvac indicates that of 2.6 million people facing hunger, about 2 million are in rural areas while about 600,000 are in urban areas.

Director of Monitoring and Evaluation in Ministry of Economic Planning and Development responsible for Mvac, Sophie Kang’oma, declined to comment on the report, saying they will issue a statement on the same this week.

Dodma spokesperson, Chipiliro Khamula, said the department will develop a lean season food insecurity response plan basing on the Mvac report.