11/11/2005
Further EU assistance to help tackle food crisis in Malawi

Further to the pro-active actions that the European Commission has made since April in response to the evolving food security situation in Malawi the Commission has allocated a further €5,000,000 for emergency interventions to support the most vulnerable groups.

This aid is being provided through DG-ECHO, the Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department, which comes under the responsibility of Commissioner Louis Michel. The funds are being channelled through NGO’s and UN agencies and will cover a series of interventions such as nutrition, emergency water and sanitation, the provision of emergency agricultural inputs and logistics. DG ECHO-funded interventions will specifically aimed at preventing a further deterioration of the nutritional situation of the most vulnerable groups

Louis Michel said: “At a time when media attention is directed towards other humanitarian tragedies elsewhere in the world, Malawi seems to be considered as a forgotten crisis. For us, it is not. The European Commission is long-standing partner of Malawi. With this decision, we are making a decisive contribution to avert a massive food crisis in this country and we encourage other donors to respond to this situation”.

This additional funding comes on top of, and will be complementary to, substantial EC contributions for food security interventions in Malawi of € 17.300.000, of which € 16.800.000 has been allocated for food aid and the remainder for safety net programmes. This is a demonstration of the EC’s multi-layered approach, which aims at supporting good sustainable policies as well as immediate relief.

The EC and other donors, working in partnership with the Government of Malawi, started mobilising in April to meet the anticipated shortfall. To date, donors and the Government of Malawi have mobilised 214,000 MT of maize, 18,000 MT of pulses in addition to $ 26 million. The Commission will continue to work in partnership with Government of Malawi to closely monitor the situation as it evolves and to respond accordingly.

Southern Africa faces a food security crisis compounded by political and economic issues. This crisis has to be seen from a broader angle, not only due to adverse weather conditions (droughts, floods) but also due to the political and economic circumstances in each of the affected countries and their combined impact in a regional context. Furthermore, the impact of the HIV/AIDs pandemic exacerbates not only the current situation but also the ability of the region to recover. The crisis has therefore a regional dimension in addition to a series of separate national crises.

This year Malawi has experienced the lowest crop production of the past 7 years causing the President of Malawi to declare a state of national disaster on 14th October 2005.

It is estimated that approximately 4.2 million people - 34 % of the population – have insufficient production or income to meet their minimum food requirements from now until the next harvest in March 2006. The shortfall in production has been compounded by increasing maize prices, which place access to food even further out of the reach of the most vulnerable households, many of whom are already affected and weakened by HIV and AIDS. The majority of those at risk are children.