Balaka set to resume food distribution exercise
By Precious Msosa
After halting the Elnino food insecurity response food distribution program for three months, Balaka district council is set to resume the exercise which will see beneficiaries receiving a bag of maize while some will be pocketing cash.
The exercise which is expected to benefit 51,802 households will commence on March 26 and finish on April 7 in five Traditional Authorities of Nsamala, Phalula, Mgomwa, Phimbi and Mkaya will have 15,519 households receiving a 50kg bag of maize while 36,519 will receive K70, 000.
According to District Disaster Risk Management Officer Alick Milanzi, they have met with all the relevant stakeholders to sensitize them about the resumption of the exercise.
“Everything is set as we will just continue from where we had stopped last time. The same number of beneficiaries which is 51,802 are expected to benefit from the exercise and the model will also be same,” said Milanzi on the sidelines of a District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting on Thursday.
He said initially, the beneficiaries were supposed to receive the package from October to February (five months) but for Balaka, the exercise was done from October to November only due to logistical challenges.
“It should be noted that the exercise is covering for one month and in this case it covers for the month of December. For the remaining two months, we will see if other partners will come in to support,” he said.
In Balaka, government is conducting the excercise in conjuction with World Food Program (WFP) with Find Your Feet as an implementing partener in response to the Malawi Vulnerability Assesment Committee (MVAC) report which indicated that about 5.7 million people will be food insecure in the 2024/25 farming season.
Meanwhile, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) has warned people against selling of the unharvested crops such as maize, rice and sorghum to unscrupulous traders.
“It is dispiriting to note that the tendency is becoming rampant when government through DoDMA and various humanitarian partners is working around the clock in providing relief assistance to over 5.7 million food insecure people across the country, under the 2024/25 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme (LS-FIRP), DoDMA said in a statement.
It further called upon relevant structures at district level to take note of communities involved in the malpractice so that they are scraped off from subsequent social safety nets.
