By Burnett Munthali
The family of a 72-year-old widow, Ivy Chirwa, is among 12,661 households in Mzuzu receiving relief maize from the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) today.
Chirwa expressed deep gratitude for the assistance, stating that the 50-kilogram bag of maize she is receiving will greatly help her family.
She explained that feeding her three orphaned grandchildren has been a major challenge, as she has been struggling to provide them with sufficient food.
For many households like Chirwa’s, the relief maize represents a crucial lifeline during a period of severe food insecurity.
Mzuzu City Council Chief Executive Officer, Gomezgani Nyasulu, confirmed that the relief efforts are not limited to maize distribution alone.
He revealed in an interview that each beneficiary will also receive a cash transfer amounting to about K140,000 over the next two months.
The financial support is being provided by the development partner GiveDirectly, an organization known for its direct cash assistance programs to vulnerable communities.
Nyasulu emphasized that the combination of food and financial aid will help many families recover from the ongoing hardships.
The intervention is timely, as many households have been struggling to afford food due to rising costs and poor harvests.
Mzuzu City Constituency Member of Parliament, Benex Mwamlima, also welcomed the relief program, describing it as a necessary intervention.
He noted that despite the lean season coming to an end this month, many families are still in urgent need of assistance.
Mwamlima stressed that hunger does not disappear immediately after the lean season, making the relief maize distribution critical in sustaining affected families.
He also expressed hope that more vulnerable people in the area will benefit from the additional 20,000 metric tonnes of maize that the government is currently procuring from Tanzania.
The Malawian government has been working tirelessly to secure food supplies to address the growing hunger crisis in the country.
With continued efforts from both the government and development partners, many struggling families in Mzuzu and beyond will receive the much-needed assistance to survive and rebuild their lives.
As the relief maize distribution progresses, there remains a call for long-term food security strategies to ensure that vulnerable households do not continue to rely on emergency interventions.
For now, however, families like Ivy Chirwa’s can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that they have food to sustain them in the coming weeks.
