The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a US$ 500,000 (MK500 million) contribution from the government of Japan to meet the urgent food needs of 200,000 Malawians affected by higher staple prices due to the conflict in Ukraine and recent flood-induced crop losses.
The funding will complement a government of Malawi-led intervention providing 540 metric tonnes of locally procured beans to affected people in the districts of Chikwawa, Nsanje and Phalombe hit by flooding in March.
With global food prices already at their highest in a decade and economic growth slowing, the Ukraine conflict is deepening and widening a hunger crisis afflicting countries around the world, including Malawi. Involving two of the biggest producers of cereals, natural gas and fertilizer, it continues to wreak havoc on food and energy markets.
“We are grateful to the government of Japan for helping people in Malawi withstand the increasingly severe impacts of the crisis in Ukraine, particularly the rapidly rising inflation and the effects of floods, which threaten to further compromise food security,” said Paul Turnbull, WFP Country Director and Representative in Malawi.
“The government of Japan will continue to respond to the deterioration of global food security caused by the situation in Ukraine”, said Satoshi Iwakiri, its ambassador to Malawi. “We are partnering with the World Food Programme to supply food assistance to developing countries affected by the crisis for their basic needs.”
On July 5, the government of Japan announced an aid package valued at some US$200 million for countries in Africa and the Middle East whose food insecurity has been exacerbated by the Ukraine crisis. It provides for, among other things, emergency food assistance and support to the building of national capacities to boost self-reliance.
WFP is partnering with the government of Malawi on a range of activities, including emergency food assistance and cash-based transfers, nutritional support, supply chain and logistics initiatives, and resilience-building.
