Food aid for storm Ana survivors in Malawi
LILONGWE. — LAST Thursday, NGOs were providing aid to victims after tropical storm Ana hit Malawi earlier last week.
The population is starting to get fresh supplies. The World Food Programme and other NGOs began to organise food distribution.
Following tropical storm Ana that hit the country starting January 25, many Malawians have lost food safety.
The latest report from Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management says the floods killed 33 and displaced more than 100 000.
Distribution started on February 1 and the World Food Program (WFP) is providing corn-soya bran to some 21 000 households, around 95 000 people in four most affected districts of Chikwawa, Mulanje, Nsanje and Phalombe.
The WFP representative in Malawi, Paul Turnbull, said the NGO was currently “prioritising displaced people living in temporary shelters as it looks for additional resources to scale up its response”.
These food distributions are godsend for flood survivors like Bine Kabaye: “We lost all our food because of the floods and I am happy that today we have received the food because we fled with nothing.”
If the focus is put on life-saving commodities namely those, which help for water, for sanitation, non-food items latrines, cleaning stuff accommodation and the need for tents are yet other concerns for the victims. Aida Saizi, a food beneficiary explains: “We would love to leave the flood-prone area and move upland, but we have no money to buy land on our own.”
During President Lazarus Chakwera’s tour of affected areas last Tuesday, he called for more assistance to those affected by floods in over half of the country’s 28 districts.
He also vowed to ask African Union heads of state for support in aiding districts affected as the leaders met this weekend for the annual African Union summit.
Meanwhile, the World Food Programme announced Wednesday that it has set aside an initial amount of $500 000 for relief assistance to the flood victims.