World Bank responds to Malawi’s food appeal

By Jamal Prince Jamal

LILONGWE, Malawi (AA) - The World Bank released $57.6 million for Malawians severely affected by an ongoing food crisis that one expert described as "timely."

In a statement released Friday in Washington, the bank said the quick release is designed to provide the country with liquidity through the Catastrophe Deferred Drawdown Option ICAT-DDO).

“This CAT-DDO support comes in the context of the severe food crisis the country is experiencing due to El—Nino conditions in the wider southern African region. Moreover, a series of intense disaster events over the last few years has left almost no time for the country to recover and has resulted in severe erosion of food security at the national level,” it said.

The grant comes after President Lazarus Chakwera declared a state of national disaster in 23 of the country’s 28 districts on March 23 which have been adversely affected by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Simplex Chithyola Banda, told Anadolu that the grant was a “humane gesture” that would go a long way in mitigating the effects of food deficits.

“This grant will significantly leverage the support from other development partners and well-wishers as we intensify the mobilization of resources to respond to the food crisis,” said Chithyola.

Milward Tobias, an economic expert, said the bank’s response was a “timely humanitarian gesture.”

“This is a wonderful gesture coming at the right time when as a country we are struggling to feed our people. This grant is without a doubt going to boost the country’s forex reserves which have been at the lowest for so many years,” Tobias told Anadolu.

He, however, said the current situation should be a “wake-up call to the country to find sustainable solutions to mitigate food deficits”.

While George Phiri, a social commentator cautioned government officers managing the relief efforts to desist from abusing the “goodwill of the development partners.”

“This tendency will likely frustrate our efforts to provide for the poorest of the poor who are bearing the brunt of the ongoing food crisis. Let us be accountable for every support trickling in,” Phiri told Anadolu.

According to the Department of Disaster and Management Affairs (DoDMA), the country requires 600,000 metric tons of maize to avert the crisis.

More than 2 million farming households have been affected and 700,000 hectares of maize have been damaged representing 44% of the national crop production, according to DoDMA.

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