23/9/2005
Malawi Faces Famine As Agency Appeals Go Unheeded

The harvest in Malawi is the worst for 10 years, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said this week. The cause is the drought which continues to afflict much of southern Africa. According to WFP, families living in the south of Malawi are especially affected by the drought and the decreasing availability of food in the area. The agency has already appealed for funds but so far only $4 million of the $49 million sought has come in.

Overall, 4.2 million people in the Central African country are affected, the agency says, 1 million of them children under the age of five and pregnant women. These people will need food aid from now until the next harvest. "You have already a very serious situation that, with the slightest shock, will turn into a catastrophe," UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) country Representative Aida Girma said. UNICEF is supporting a number of nutrition rehabilitation centres in several parts of Malawi.

The situation is aggravated by the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and chronic poverty. Malawi is one of the African countries worst affected by HIV/AIDS, and life expectancy is 39 years. Because of the shortage of food, prices increased sharply by up to 50 per cent between April and July this year.