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Malawi

WFP Malawi Country Brief, March 2024

Attachments

In Numbers

  • USD 58.7 million six-month net funding requirements for WFP (April 2024 – September 2024)

  • 40 percent of the population are likely to become acutely food insecure in 2024

  • USD 6 million and 3,667 mt of food distributed to affected people in support of the 2023/2024 lean season response.

Two million households across Malawi are facing a looming food crisis triggered by El Niño.

Strategic Outcome 1

• Lean Season Response: Throughout the lean season, WFP provided emergency food assistance to 77,000 people in six districts (Balaka, Chikwawa, Nsanje, Ntcheu, Phalombe and Zomba). In total, 3,667 mt of food was distributed, while USD 6 million was distributed as cash assistance with each household receiving USD 28.5 each month for between one to five months.

• WFP is strengthening communities’ resilience to future shocks and stressors through the creation of productive assets, while simultaneously providing food and cash assistance to address immediate food needs. In March, WFP provided double cash transfers covering January and February to ten thousand beneficiaries in Chikwawa,
Mulanje and Phalombe districts as part of the Tropical Cyclone Freddy recovery action. Each beneficiary received the equivalent of USD 53.

• WFP continually works to ensure people have access to food during crises. In March, WFP collaborated with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) to distribute 64 mt of food to 2,375 households affected by El Niño induced floods in Nkhotakota District. Maize, corn soya blend, pulses, and vegetable oil were distributed.

Strategic Outcome 2

• School feeding: WFP supports girls’ education in Malawi through the joint programme on girls’ education (JPGE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, UNICEF and UNFPA. In March, WFP arranged an annual joint monitoring exercise and review meeting with all relevant stakeholders in the education industry to review the progress of implementation during the third year of the JPGE; identify key successes, challenges, and lessons learnt and open dialogue on strategies for future sustainability. An action plan document was developed stipulating the challenges, solutions, and activities to be prioritised before the end of project in October 2024.

• WFP also collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Education to conduct home-grown school feeding (HGSF) management trainings with 200 schools from Mzimba,
Nkhata Bay and Rumphi districts as part of EU’s Tsogolo La Thanzi Programme. These trainings focused on financial management, procurement, warehouse management, nutrition, and cooking demonstrations and are necessary for capacity building of government staff and communities to ensure successful implementation of the programme.