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CCAP Blantyre Synod has asked government to urgently act on the looming food shortage while the World Food Programme has warned that donors are likely to be preoccupied by tsunami in Asia before supplementing the country’s food requirements.
CCAP’s Blantyre Synod relief specialist Hudson Lugano said in an interview on Wednesday that although the food shortage would not be worse than that of 2002, the situation will be critical because of increasing poverty levels since then.
“The situation warrants government to declare state of emergency. At the moment it is not critical but by March and April the problem might be serious,” he said.
Lugano said the problem was that both the inflation figure of 11 percent and the estimated crop yields were not real. He said in reality the country this year is expected to produce half of the predicted 1.7 million metric tonnes of maize.
In a response to a questionnaire on the food security situation in the country, WFP Reports Officer Matthews Nyirenda said the tsunami effect will also have an impact on how food aid would flow into the country.
“The donor focus did shift to the tsunami affected countries and there has been a big push by governments that Africa should not be forgotten. The WFP Executive Director James Morris has also appealed to donors to avoid the creation of another Tsunami in Africa,” he said.
Nyirenda, however, said instead of declaring a state of emergency the country will still do with the aid which is coming in following government’s consultation with donors, aid organisations and other stake holders.
“There has been positive response from some donors. As of now it is too early to declare a state of disaster and WFP and government will continue to dialogue with donors on the issue of use of the Strategic Grain Reserves (SGRs),” he said.
A survey by Nation Online indicated that some districts have gone for two to three weeks without rains with maize in several areas wilting and yellowing sending fears that hunger was eminent.
Agricultural Secretary Andrew Daudi could not be drawn to comment on the food security situation.
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