The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) has announced that it has supported 1.1 million households so far under the hunger response programme, which targets 1.265 million households with maize and cash transfers.

Speaking in Lilongwe during the loading of maize onto a train for transport to the Southern Region, Dodma Deputy Director for Disaster Response, Fyawupi Mwafongo, highlighted significant progress in reaching food-insecure households.

Mwafongo stated that the goal is to have all local councils reached by the end of December, though the exercise will continue until March. To expedite maize distribution, Dodma is utilizing both rail and road transport, with plans to ship 4,000 metric tonnes of maize by rail. Of this, 2,500 metric tonnes have already been transported.

The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) estimates that 5.7 million people are food insecure this year, requiring 261,574 metric tonnes of food during the lean season, which runs from October to March.

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