Continuous rains and flooding combined with the landfall of Cyclone Idai have affected 1.5 million people across Southern Africa. Of the areas where The Hunger Project is working in Malawi and Mozambique, it is the Chikwawa District in Malawi that has been the most directly affected.
The Hunger Project-Malawi has a presence in five (Chikwawa, Blantyre, Zomba, Ntcheu, Dedza) of the 17 districts recently declared by the President as Flood Disaster Areas due to continuous rains.
Partners in one of the five districts, Chikwawa, have been directly affected by the floods. The affected epicenters are Nchalo (10 villages), Majete 3 (12 villages), Majete 4 (11 villages), and Majete 5 (1 village), which are all in Chikwawa district — a total of 33 villages. People from Mwalija village in Majete 5 Epicenter were all safely evacuated by the World Food Programme and UNICEF. Sadly, we have been notified that two people were confirmed dead in Sekeni village in Nchalo Epicenter.
To the best of our knowledge, the rest of our community partners and staff are all reported safe, as is the infrastructure within our epicenter community buildings. The extent of crop damage in these areas remains significant, and it will negatively affect the yields for the 2018/19 growing season.
THP-Malawi acknowledges the relief efforts being championed by various NGOs, including Red Cross, WFP, World Vision, CAVWOC, CADECOM, Stefanos, and the Department of Disasters Management (DODMA) in Chikwawa district.
We are grateful that in Mozambique, our staff and areas where we work remain so far unaffected.
The Hunger Project does not engage in emergency response and does not have the capacity or expertise to do so. Our work focuses on promoting strong systems and capacity so communities grow more resilient in order to withstand and manage crises, such as food insecurity due to droughts or flooding. However, when emergencies do affect the specific communities where we are working, The Hunger Project is committed to standing in solidarity with our partners.
Our teams are taking the necessary precaution to avoid any unsafe travel and activity at this time, and they continue to monitor the situation closely as the situation is still fragile. In the words of our Regional Director of Southern Africa, Rowlands Kaotcha, “We stand with the people of Malawi as we go through these challenging times. We trust that the resilience of the people of Malawi shall pull us through.”
Thank you for your partnership.
