Malawi secures 180 mln USD in humanitarian aid for food-insecure families

LILONGWE, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) — The Malawian government has mobilized 181 million U.S. dollars in cash and in-kind humanitarian aid to support over 2 million food-insecure families nationwide.
The Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) shared this in a public statement Monday, expressing gratitude to local and international communities and development partners for their response to President Lazarus Chakwera’s appeal for humanitarian assistance.
Chakwera issued the appeal in March following a national crop inspection, which revealed that 23 of Malawi’s 28 districts had been severely impacted by drought and floods exacerbated by El Nino conditions. In April, the government launched an El Nino response appeal, estimating the humanitarian needs at 446.72 million dollars.
According to the statement, Malawi has mobilized 158.75 million dollars in cash and 22.25 million dollars in in-kind.
The statement highlighted donations, including 1,830 metric tonnes of parboiled rice valued at 2.8 million dollars from China and 400 bags of maize flour from the Chinese Enterprises Malawi Chamber of Commerce.
Additionally, Morocco and the Philippines provided 100,000 dollars and 50,000 dollars, respectively, through DoDMA, while other countries and international agencies contributed 155.22 million dollars through entities such as the World Bank and the World Food Program.
DoDMA said the outlined donations do not include those made by organizations directly to the affected people without declaring to the department or affected councils, adding that contributions through alternative humanitarian channels “will be accounted for by the recipients and have not been reflected in this publication.” ■