U.S. Government supports WFP to tackle hunger and boost the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in Malawi

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a generous contribution of US$ 10.3 million from the United States Government, through USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), to provide emergency assistance to vulnerable households and support the livelihoods of communities in Malawi.

WFP will use part of this contribution (US$ 7 million) to support 85,000 food-insecure households in the districts of Balaka, Chikwawa, Machinga, Mangochi, Nsanje, Phalombe, and Zomba through the construction or rehabilitation of assets that strengthen their resilience to climatic shocks. USAID/BHA has been supporting WFP’s Food Assistance for Assets (FFA) programming since 2017. This new contribution will enable targeted households to create productive community assets, such as fish farming ponds, micro-irrigation schemes, and flood-control dykes, among others, while they receive cash transfers to cover immediate food needs.

The contribution (US$ 3 million) will also enable emergency food assistance to food-insecure households in the country. The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC), a government-led committee tasked with providing timely early warning information on food insecurity, estimates that 2.6 million people, nearly 15 percent of the country’s population, will face acute food insecurity during the 2020/2021 Lean Season. USAID/BHA contributions (US$ 350,000) will also support MVAC functions in the coming months.

“The U.S. Government continues to help the people of Malawi avert hunger, build their resilience and improve their food security. We appreciate the U.S. Government’s support for our efforts to help break the cycle of hunger in Malawi,” says Benoit Thiry, WFP Malawi Country Director.

“The increasing risk of climatic shocks to poor, rural households worsens their hunger situation. The U.S. Government has partnered with WFP to help poor households mitigate, manage, and endure the impacts of such shocks,” says Catie Lott, Mission Director for USAID/Malawi.

The U.S. is one of the largest donors to WFP in Malawi, contributing US$ 46.9 million since 2017 to emergency response, support for refugees, and efforts to break the cycle of hunger. WFP is supporting the Government of Malawi through a range of programmes, including emergency food assistance and cash-based transfers, nutritional support, and resilience-building.

Original source: WFP