340 HOUSEHOLDS RECEIVE SOCIAL CASH TRANSFER IN RESPONSE TO FOOD CRISIS
By Noel Chatepa
In a significant effort to alleviate the impact of food insecurity in Malawi, the Karonga Diocese CADECOM, with funding from Caritas Internationalis through the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM), has provided financial aid to 340 households in Karonga District. Each household received a cash disbursement of MK100,000 in response to the state of disaster declared by the president on March 23, 2024. This declaration came after 23 out of 28 districts in Malawi experienced severe food shortages due to poor agricultural harvests linked to erratic weather patterns.
During an interview at the distribution exercise, Father Edward Kamanga, a parish priest at St. Mary’s Parish in Karonga, emphasized the critical timing of the aid. He noted that many families in the area are frequently affected by drought conditions. “This aid has come at the right time as it is approaching the rainy season, the financial support will enable families to purchase essential food supplies and allow them to focus on their farming activities”, he said.
Among those that have benefited from this initiative is Anna Chipandula, a 31-year-old mother of three and farmer from Lupembe T/A Kyungu. Expressing her gratitude for the assistance, she stated, “I am very thankful for this assistance; I will use this money to buy food for my family.” Anna shared her struggles with crop production due to changing weather patterns that severely impacted her harvests. “We only got about 90 kgs from our one-acre farm,” she explained. To supplement her family’s income, she has been breaking quarry stones for piecework but finds it insufficient as she earns about 6,000 Kwacha per week.
The Food Crisis project is being funded by Caritas Internationalis to the tune of 724 Million Kwacha and is being implemented in the 8 dioceses of Malawi by CADECOM. The beneficiaries were selected from the District Disaster management committee beneficiary list in accordance with government procedure.