OCHA Situation Report
Malawi humanitarian situation report
Report of July 2005
15 August 2005


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Prepared by the UN Disaster Management Technical Working Group

UPDATE ON FOOD SECURITY

The number of households running out of food from their own production 
continues to increase. Subsequently, increased numbers of households are 
becoming completely dependent on the market for their food requirements. 
This increased demand for food, especially maize, is beginning to force 
maize prices up.  If prices continue to rise, many more households, 
especially the poor, will be unable to meet their needs without 
assistance. MVAC scenarios estimate the number of households at risk of 
food insecurity is between 4.2 million to 4.6 million. The former figure 
is based scenario 1, which assumes a price range from MK19-23/kg; the 
latter is based on prices exceeding MK32/kg.  Maize prices are rising 
more rapidly than normal in many of the local markets, a development 
that is likely to limit the food access of most poor households. 16 of 
the 40 markets recorded maize prices above MK20/kg, the majority of 
which are located in the southern region.  Thus far, some livelihood 
zones (Lower Shire and Central Karonga) have exceeded scenario one 
prices. As yet, no zones have reached scenario two price levels.  The 
ongoing food distributions may help to stall price increases thus making 
scenario two less likely.  However, given that the current food 
distribution plans are targeting only 55 percent of beneficiaries, there 
is a risk of the situation deteriorating if adequate resources are not 
forthcoming to increase the number of beneficiaries, especially for the 
period beginning in October, when large numbers of people will require 
assistance.  It is therefore important to ensure additional pledges as 
well as efficient and timely distribution of the food aid.

In the most critical districts, food distributions are underway.  The 
worst affected part of the country is the southern region, followed by 
the central region and then the northern region.  A number of livelihood 
zones including Lake Chilwa-Phalombe Plain, Rift Valley Escarpment, 
Central Karonga, Middle and Lower Shire Valley received food aid during 
June and July. The fact that households are already beginning to run out 
of stocks during the post- harvest period is worrisome. In addition, 
there is urgent need for additional resources as the current pledges 
only amount to about half of what is required.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

WFP/JEFAP food aid distributions started in June in some of the worst 
affected southern districts (Nsanje, Chikwawa and Phalombe).  In July 
the distribution expanded to also include Zomba.  Out of the 7,253 
households earmarked to receive food in June, 6,000 (or 82% of the 
planned beneficiaries) received food.  The July distribution of 4000MT 
reached all the planned beneficiaries (80,214 households).  The total 
number of beneficiaries is expected to be more than this, as the DFID/EU 
logistics unit has also started their distributions in the central and 
northern regions.  Due to the huge shortfall in the humanitarian 
resources made available, the current food aid distribution plans are 
only covering 55 percent of the humanitarian needs.  This is a worrisome 
situation, as those not being targeted will exert pressure on both the 
humanitarian operation and commercial markets.

There is currently a Government of Malawi/EU/DFID tender to procure 
63,000MT of maize for humanitarian aid and 30,000MT commercial maize to 
ensure that maize is readily available on the markets for those 
households with the resources to purchase it. The GoM is also 
replenishing the SGR.

The current pledges represent only about 40 percent of the total 
requirement of approximately 270,000 MT.  While it is expected that some 
of this shortfall will be met by food aid interventions by various NGOs 
and organisations outside these two main pipelines, there is likely to 
be a substantial shortfall.  The government needs to start the process 
of securing additional pledges immediately if the humanitarian pipeline 
is to operate smoothly.  As previously reported, the country risks 
deteriorating into a serious food security crisis during the later part 
of the year if no additional firm pledges are made.

UPDATE ON CHOLERA SITUATION

The cholera situation in the country remains under control.  No 
districts have reported cholera cases since the end of April 2005. 
Surveillance for any suspected cases is ongoing in the districts and 
health facilities are currently planning for the prepositioning of 
emergency cholera supplies for the upcoming cholera season, which 
normally begins with the onset of the rains in November/December.

UPDATE ON NUTRITION SITUATION

The MOH and its stakeholders are planning to carry out a nutrition 
assessment focusing on districts identified as at risk (red) by the 
MVAC. Decisions are still being made on the methodology and timing of 
the nutrition assessment. In the meantime efforts are being made to 
continuously monitor admissions in Nutrition Rehabilitation centres 
(NRU) as a proxy indicator of deterioration in nutrition status of under 
5s. Data collected from 48 NRUs (supported by MOH, AAH, WFP and UNICEF) 
are indicating that the absolute admission figures in the southern 
region, central region and northern region are 341, 197, and 57 
respectively. This clearly indicates the high magnitude of food 
insecurity in the southern region. Admissions in July remain stable 
compared to the previous June. Comparison of the July 2005 admissions 
with the same month last year indicate an increase by 5% in the Northern 
Region, an increase of 21% in the Central and a decrease of 21% in the 
Southern Region. Data from the other NRUs was not prepared at the time 
of this publication.

SPECIAL ENVOY VISIT

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Special Advisor to the Secretary General Kofi 
Annan, Dr. Pedro Sanchez, Co-Chair of the Millennium Project's Task 
Force on Hunger and an accompanying delegation visited Malawi from 30 
July to 3 August. The mission shared the 'Green Revolution strategy' 
with the UN country team, government representatives and the donor 
community-special emphasis was put on seeking ways to intervene on the 
chronic food crisis in Malawi through input support to smallholder 
farmers. Prof. Sachs also presented the idea of establishing a 
Millennium Village in southern Malawi. The proposed village, modelled 
after already established sites in Kenya and Ethiopia, aims to 
demonstrate Green Revolution strategies in practice. A 'Think Tank' led 
by the Ministry of Agriculture was established to adjust the Millennium 
Village principles to the specific conditions of southern Malawi. After 
touring three potential sites, the Ministry of Agriculture will make the 
final selection by late August. Initial interventions including 
agricultural inputs and anti-malarial bed nets will be in place before 
the coming planting season. The mission had an opportunity to meet with 
the State President, relevant cabinet ministers, donors and members of 
civil society organizations.

DONOR ALERT

The UN system in Malawi is in the process of preparing a Donor Alert. 
The overall purpose of the document is to alert the wider international 
community of the seriousness of the food insecurity in Malawi and raise 
funds for a comprehensive approach to address the situation. 
Specifically, support will be requested to enable agencies to procure 
food, agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizers) and specialized nutrition 
supplies during the critical period from October 2005 to March 2006. 
The response will also be taken as an opportunity to reach many people 
with HIV/AIDS prevention messages particularly on zero tolerance on 
sexual exploitation and abuse during food distribution. This 
intervention will be financed internally by the UN system, albeit being 
part of the alert, and will be jointly executed by WFP, UNICEF, UNFPA 
and UNAIDS.

THE FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY POLICY FOR MALAWI

The Malawi Cabinet has recently approved the Food and Nutrition Security 
Policy.  The food crisis that occurred in 2001-2002 prompted the 
Government of Malawi to set up an institutional arrangement that would 
address food and nutrition security in medium and long term. As part of 
this initiative, the Government established the Food Crisis Joint Task 
Force (FSJTF). Under this task force six sub committees were formed 
including the Food and Nutrition Security Policy (FNSP) sub-committee 
whose purpose was to develop the National Food and Nutrition Security 
Policy. The goal of the policy is to provide a framework for addressing 
long term food and nutrition security issues for Malawi. The FNSP 
subcommittee is comprised of six experts from various fields 
(Macroeconomics; Nutrition and Health; Agro economy; Poverty, Trade and 
Investment; Emergencies and Natural Disaster and Information System). 
The objectives of the FNS policy are firstly to guarantee physical and 
economic access to sufficient quantities of nutritious food required to 
lead a healthy and active life; and secondly to improve people's health 
and nutritional status and reduce the burden of diet-related illness, 
death and disabilities. These objectives are attainable based on the 
following four points: sustainable food availability; sustainable access 
to food; sustainable food utilization; and stability in food and 
nutrition.

In connection with the policy, further work is underway towards 
establishing M&E indicators as well as developing a strategic framework 
for a national action plan.

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