The Hunger Crisis: Over 4 Million Malawians At Hunger Risk

…experts blame situation on poor political and administration plans

By Joseph Dumbula, Blantyre Malawi.

For Peterson Bande, who heads a household of five, it is a sad Tuesday morning as there is just no maize in state-owned trading spaces where the grain has become so scarce to find in Malawi’s commercial capital Blantyre.

As he narrates, he must instead fetch the product as offered by commercial vendors most of whom are selling the maize at relatively high prices perhaps in reaction to the market forces in play.

‘’If we go for the vendors, it means we must have to cough out more than what we would have if Admarc was operational. But, my family is waiting for me as our farm was washed away by floods after Cyclone Freddy. We just want the government to open the Admarc depots because we are facing hunger here,’’ he says.

Bande insists that two of his children are already complaining of ‘missing nsima’ which is the staple food in Malawi made out of a thick porridge from maize flour taken along with fish, beans, or meat.

There are already over four million people earmarked to face hunger given the climatic changes and a rise in the cost of living.

It has emerged that over four million Malawians which represents 21 percent of the entire population will face hunger this year, a situation that commentators align to poorly implemented policies and subsidy programs.

This follows a report by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) annual food security assessment which shows that the current projection represents a 15 percent increase compared to the previous consumption period last year when 3.9 million people faced hunger.

The situation coincides with a rise in the cost of living and a messy Affordable Input Program that targets rural farmers. As if that is not enough, grain trader Admarc has not hard just enough as more farmers had not harvested enough given the Cyclone Freddy.

“There is a 15 percent increase of those requiring food as compared to a similar number in 2022, which was at 3.9 million. Out of the 2023-24 food insecure people, 470,000 are from the four cities, and 3.9 million are in rural areas across the country. The number of [the] affected population in rural areas has increased by 23 percent from 3.1 million in the 2022-23 consumption year while urban areas have registered a decline by 25 percent from 627,571 people,” the statement reads.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture's final Crop Production Estimates Survey indicates that maize production only decreased by 5.6 percent in the 2022-23 farming season, from 3.7mt to 3.5 million mt.

Ostensibly although the report lobbies for strict measures to deal with the situation, there has been what is being described as dismal interest by parliament.

In the 2023/24 national budget, Parliament had allocated 12 Billion Malawi Kwacha (11 Million US Dollars) for maize purchases and 4 Billion Malawi Kwacha (3 Million US Dollars) for recapitalization.

But, social commentator Wonderful Mkhutche believes it remains questionable that the country continues to have as many programs as possible when hunger continues to hit the nation.

‘’ The country's public projects management system is approached through the political lens. The idea is not to maximize political visibility and win the next election. This has derailed governments and years come and go without a real sense of direction and gains for the country despite huge investments in public projects,’’ he tells Pan African Visions from Lilongwe.

He adds: ‘’ The irony is unfortunate and striking. The households that are benefiting from subsidies are the ones facing hunger. Subsidies have for a long time been used for political ends. Farm inputs are now expensive and this is used by politicians to woo votes through the provision of these subsidies. However, what exactly do we plan to benefit when we are targeting people who cannot produce enough for this country for the subsidies?’’.

So far, the matters have led to concerns among buyers as John Kapito, Executive Director of the Consumers Association of Malawi, an influential consumer rights body government now needs to review and intervene on current prices which will continue to hurt consumers before the lean period where prices will be uncontrollable.

However, Malawi government spokesperson Moses Kunkuyu insists the government will continue to provide affordable farm inputs to poor households that have land and capacity to cultivate.

“The government will also remain with other social cash transfer and public works programs to ensure that poor households are assisted,” Kunkuyu said.

But, Mkhutche casts doubt in the faith that most of the efforts have been too political in recent years.

‘’The issue of hunger is being downplayed for political reasons. But the truth is that most Malawians do not have enough food, and food is becoming expensive. Parliament should not only be discussing this situation but also suggest new ways of achieving food security. Unfortunately, this did not have prominence when Parliament was meeting and it simply tells one thing; lack of political priorities, ’he said.

As it stands, the writing appears on the wall that, what is needed now for Bande and over four million others remain just the food and nothing else.

Mkhutche however argues now Malawians must demand from their leaders because most of the resources are tax payer’s money which implies particular outrage if not well administered. ‘

‘’ We have platforms that we can use to change our country. Let us pressure our leaders to act responsibly and decisively. If they choose not to, let us protest or vote them out. We need to know that our leaders reflect on ourselves. They cannot afford to do less when we are demanding more,’’ said Mkhutche.

*Culled from the September Issue of PAV Magazine