Malawi
- 5.4 million
- people are chronically food insecure
- Up to 40%
- of the population has been affected by El Niño conditions
- 20 million
- population
Malawi is a small, landlocked country in sub-Saharan Africa with a rapidly expanding population. Most livelihoods depend on rain-fed agriculture, making the population highly vulnerable to disasters, particularly droughts and cyclone-induced floods.
The country faces a food security crisis due to El Niño-induced dry spells affecting 44 percent of the national crop area and up to 40 percent of the population.
Malawi's challenges are exacerbated by weak economic growth, high overall debt distress, low primary school completion, high prevalence of stunting (impaired growth due to malnutrition) and a high HIV/AIDS infection rate.
The World Food Programme has been present in the country since 1965, supporting the government efforts to achieve food and nutrition security and resilience.
Given the long lead times for procuring food, WFP is positioning supplies from mid-year to mitigate the impact of the upcoming lean season. Through the National Transport and Logistics Cluster, WFP as co-lead is facilitating access to common logistics services for the national response.
What the World Food Programme is doing in Malawi
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Food assistance
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WFP supports the Government in responding to emergency by providing food and cash-based transfers to those affected, including refugees. WFP also provides cash-based transfers to 52,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Dzaleka refugee camp, in partnership with the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
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School meals and nutrition
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WFP supports education through the provision of daily meals to 825,000 schoolchildren in 778 primary schools and 140 pre-primary schools. In 2022, WFP Malawi transitioned to a home-grown school feeding approach that uses fresh foods bought from local smallholder farmers. This provides a consistent market for the farmers, and fresh, locally produced nutritious food for school children. As part of the humanitarian El Niño response, WFP aims to extend school-meal programmes as emergency support to 440,000 children, and assist the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition for 88,000 children.
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Livelihoods
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WFP’s “changing lives” agenda in Malawi focuses on asset creation, climate-smart agriculture, increased access to finance (savings and loans), crop insurance, management of post-harvest losses, and linking smallholder farmers to markets. WFP is working with farmers to provide water for year-round crop production, and equipping communities with solar-powered irrigation and pumps. These are especially important this year due to El Niño-induced dry spells, helping communities grow crops during the dry season to mitigate crop losses.
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Capacity strengthening
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WFP provides technical assistance to emergency preparedness and response institutions in Malawi, aimed at enhancing the humanitarian response amid increasing climate-induced emergencies. This covers areas including coordination, weather forecasting and monitoring of anticipatory action. WFP is supporting the Ministry of Health to improve warehouse good practices and data quality management by providing supervision for health facilities.
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Supply chain services
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WFP provides services through the Logistics Cluster to the National Disaster Management Agency and humanitarian and development partners to enhance logistics coordination and supply chain management. WFP also provides access to on-demand services to Government, humanitarian and development actors to augment their capacity to ensure more effective and efficient interventions.
Malawi news releases
Go to pageFind out more about the state of food security in Malawi
Visit the food security analysis pageOperations in Malawi
Contacts
Office
United Nations World Food Programme Family Dental Clinic, Area 14 Compound City Centre, P.O. Box 30571
Lilongwe
Malawi
Phone
+ 265 (0) 1 774 666
Fax
+ 265 (0) 1 773 785