By Loness Gwazanga
Blantyre, Mana: About 27, 644 families in Blantyre are likely to face hunger as the district has a four months food deficit.
Blantyre District Council Relief and Rehabilitation Officer, Cosmas Mangoka told members of Blantyre District Executive Committee (DEC) on Friday during the dissemination of 2022/23 Malawi Vulnerability and Assessment Committee (MVAC) results.
Mangoka said all the traditional authorities in the district have been affected; hence, government’s decision to start food distribution in both kind as well as cash.
“The total affected population is 124, 399 with total affected households of 27, 644. However, government will start food distribution to the affected households whereby 17, 110 will receive a bag of maize and 10, 534 will receive K23, 000 for the whole period at once,” said Mangoka.
Director of Planning and Development for Blantyre District Council, Tamanya Harawa urged the members to make sure that they relay the information accordingly to avoid misunderstandings once the distribution commences.
“We should all pay attention to the number of the affected households so that when we are asked, we provide facts only. This will not only help people understand the situation but also avoid confusion during the actual distribution as everyone would have known who is supposed to benefit,” said Harawa.
MVAC annual assessment projected that over 3.82 million people would be food insecure in 2022/2023 consumption year in all the 27 districts and the four cities of Blantyre, Zomba, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
