Filed under Food

For the fifth year running, Malawi is producing more food than is needed to feed its population. So why do so many in Southern Malawi face high food insecurity?

Many Southern regions have suffered dry spells this year, reducing their maize harvests to a level insufficient to feed their populations. Most Malawians rely primarily on their own maize crops to feed themselves and their families. But the dry spell has also hit cash crops, so that even those earning money are less able to purchase maize on the market. The Malwian government has good reserves of maize in storage… But now it seems they may lack the means to transport those reserves to the people who need them.

The situation is causing a political storm, with Malawi’s President- Bingu wa Mutharika- denying that many face food insecurity, and threatening to close down  newspapers that claim otherwise. Mutharika had previously won great political support for improving food security through an agricultural subsidy scheme.

See here for the full IRIN article.

IRIN offer some interesting articles exploring the impact of the floods in Pakistan.

This first one includes interviews with five families, which give an insight into the disparities in conditions, especially the availability of food, in different regions.

loss of trees before and after the floods in Pakistan.

Firewood and trees were washed away with the floods. As a result, women must sometimes search for up to two hours to find enough- and sufficiently dry- firewood to cook just one meal. Food sources like fruit trees and vegetables have also been destroyed.

It’s thought that previous deforestation in Pakistan exacerbated the damage caused by the floods.

“About 4.1 percent of Pakistan’s land area is forest, according to the government. At current rates of deforestation (2-2.4 percent), forest cover would be down to half of its 1995 extent by 2019-2024″.

See the full article here.

In January, residents of Southern Sudan will vote in a referendum to decide whether to secede from the North. It is expected the country will, as a result, split in two, leading thousands to migrate back ‘home’ to the South:

“A lot of people came just before the census, more came just before the elections,” said Matthew Abujin, Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) secretary in charge of Central Equatoria. “With the referendum, we are expecting a very big number. Nobody wants to stay on the wrong side of the border.” 

However, the region has recently suffered drought, violence and instability and the UN’s World Food Program, who were hoping to reduce aid to the region, now expect serious food shortages, and an increased need for food aid.

Source: IRIN. See here for the full IRIN report.