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| National |
| ‘Hunger lingers on’ |
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by
McDonald Chapalapata, 21 August 2003
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08:10:39
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Although there has been a good harvest this year, effects of the past two years’ hunger are being experienced by the rural people, coordinator of the Emergency Drought Recovery Project (EDRP) Dickxie Kampani said Tuesday.
He made the remarks in Lilongwe during a one-day briefing workshop for stakeholders on EDRP’s activities supported by the World Bank.
“We have, together with other stakeholders, to identify strategies for increased food production and access to food and more so we have to find long term strategies of fighting hunger and that is why we are meeting today,” said Kampani.
He noted that many stakeholders are not aware of the activities of the project, which started in January this year as a result of the hunger that struck the country in 2001 and 2002. The project is expected to end by the end of 2004.
Kampani said the World Bank pumped in US$ 50 million and US$29 million of it is a credit while US$21 million is a grant.
Opening the workshop director of finance and administration in the Ministry of Agriculture Elias Lodzeni said although some activities of the project commenced on a good note, some players are still not quite familiar with the project.
“As an emergency project, there is need for collective and speedy action by all stakeholders. There are a lot of poor people out there that need to be assisted now and in future,” said Lodzeni.
The workshop brought together experts from the Ministry of Agriculture, Reserve Bank of Malawi, Government Contracting out Unit, Malawi Social Action Fund, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport, World Bank and the Ministry of Finance.
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