Mchinji, November 4, Mana: The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) is distributing maize to communities in Mchinji District to help them through the lean season period.
The efforts are aimed at combating food insecurity for households in the district and each household will be receiving a bag of maize each month for the next four months, as part of the 2024/25 National Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme.
Speaking in an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), the Mchinji District Disaster Risk Management Officer (DDRMO), Jonathan Kapatsa, said the aid targets ultra-poor households, especially homes that cannot afford food starting with those on the social cash transfer programme (SCTP).
“A total of 30,523 households are being targeted for this years lean season response in Mchinji. Out of that, 14,875 are those under the SCTP and 15,648 households are to be targeted using Joint Emergency Food Assistance Programme (JEFAP) guidelines,
“I am asking the beneficiaries to use this maize for the intended purposes only and not for sale,” Kapatsa said.
Elisy Masulani from Saili Village Traditional Authority (T/A) Nyoka, commended DoDMA for the food aid saying her home will now manage to have three meals per day.
“I look after my grandchildren, whose parents died and I only manage to provide for them by doing small piece works. This food aid will go a long way, at least we will have three meals per day,” Masulani explained.
Alick Makiyi, a committee member from the Masegwe cluster, in the same area of T/A Nyoka, expressed his gratitude to DoDMA for the relief food items, and called the distribution as a success because all identified 136 households from his T/A received the relief food items.
“The aid has come at the right time because our community is battling with food insecurity, we did not receive enough rains last year, affecting almost every household in my area,” said Makiyi.
