LILONGWE – Due to generous donor support, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is confident that it will be able to successfully scale up its operations and deliver vital food aid supplies during this lean season to 1.3 million Malawians (including pupils benefiting from the school feeding programme) in need of assistance in the coming months despite the deteriorating state of much of the country’s infrastructure.
Recent heavy rains have damaged numerous roads and bridges, leaving many vulnerable communities in danger of being completely cut off. However, thanks to substantial contributions from a number of donors and a remarkable logistics effort, WFP believes that it will still be able to reach all of its targeted beneficiaries.
“While the heavy rains are welcome in terms of the forthcoming harvest, they have made WFP’s life much harder by hampering access to many rural communities that urgently need our help,” said Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director in Malawi. “But WFP’s logistics unit is working non-stop to overcome all the infrastructure problems to ensure that all those in need of our assistance receive sufficient food supplies.”
During the lean season between January and March, WFP intends to distribute an average of 14,000 tons of food per month to around 1.3 million beneficiaries, including families affected by drought, floods and HIV/AIDS. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to transport food aid to some parts of the country due to the devastating impact of recent downpours.
WFP road and bridge assessments indicate that parts of Chikwawa, Ntcheu, Nsanje, Phalombe, Salima and Thyolo are now extremely difficult to reach. In addition, an average of 10 trucks per day are currently getting stuck in the mud, forcing transporters to hire tractors to pull their vehicles out of the mud.
While these obstacles are certainly hindering operations, WFP is continuing to deliver food to people across the country, even in the most remote areas. Along with pre-positioning food supplies in temporary storage facilities in some of the worst-affected districts like Nsanje and Chikwawa, WFP has also been relying on a fleet of small powerful 6 ton trucks donated by the Norwegian government.
“We knew that some areas would be inaccessible after the rains so we stockpiled food aid in these districts before the rains intensified so that vulnerable people would still get aid,” said Scapelli. “We have also managed to reach many people in other areas thanks to our own fleet of trucks. We are very grateful to the Norwegians because without these tough trucks, many of our beneficiaries would have been left with little or no hope of assistance.”
WFP is also extremely thankful for the contributions from other donors, including Denmark, DFID, the European Union, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, TNT (a multinational logistics company) and the United States. In addition, the government of Malawi recently donated 10,000 tons from the country’s Strategic Grain Reserves.
“Millions of Malawians have received food assistance over the past few years – and will continue to receive food assistance until the end of 2007 – thanks to the ongoing support of our donors,” said Scapelli. “Donors seldom get the credit they deserve but without their contributions, large numbers of Malawians would be facing an even harsher lean season.”
Most donations are used to procure food in Malawi so boosting the local economy and strengthening local markets. Since 2001, WFP has bought 140,000 tons of cereals, pulses, Likuni Phala and sugar in Malawi, ploughing over US$33 million into the economy.
Nevertheless, WFP Malawi still requires additional contributions to fund its operations, with another US$24 million needed until the end of the year to meet its current shortfall for the regional protracted relief and recovery operation activities.
Recent heavy rains have damaged numerous roads and bridges, leaving many vulnerable communities in danger of being completely cut off. However, thanks to substantial contributions from a number of donors and a remarkable logistics effort, WFP believes that it will still be able to reach all of its targeted beneficiaries.
“While the heavy rains are welcome in terms of the forthcoming harvest, they have made WFP’s life much harder by hampering access to many rural communities that urgently need our help,” said Dom Scalpelli, WFP Country Director in Malawi. “But WFP’s logistics unit is working non-stop to overcome all the infrastructure problems to ensure that all those in need of our assistance receive sufficient food supplies.”
During the lean season between January and March, WFP intends to distribute an average of 14,000 tons of food per month to around 1.3 million beneficiaries, including families affected by drought, floods and HIV/AIDS. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to transport food aid to some parts of the country due to the devastating impact of recent downpours.
WFP road and bridge assessments indicate that parts of Chikwawa, Ntcheu, Nsanje, Phalombe, Salima and Thyolo are now extremely difficult to reach. In addition, an average of 10 trucks per day are currently getting stuck in the mud, forcing transporters to hire tractors to pull their vehicles out of the mud.
While these obstacles are certainly hindering operations, WFP is continuing to deliver food to people across the country, even in the most remote areas. Along with pre-positioning food supplies in temporary storage facilities in some of the worst-affected districts like Nsanje and Chikwawa, WFP has also been relying on a fleet of small powerful 6 ton trucks donated by the Norwegian government.
“We knew that some areas would be inaccessible after the rains so we stockpiled food aid in these districts before the rains intensified so that vulnerable people would still get aid,” said Scapelli. “We have also managed to reach many people in other areas thanks to our own fleet of trucks. We are very grateful to the Norwegians because without these tough trucks, many of our beneficiaries would have been left with little or no hope of assistance.”
WFP is also extremely thankful for the contributions from other donors, including Denmark, DFID, the European Union, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, TNT (a multinational logistics company) and the United States. In addition, the government of Malawi recently donated 10,000 tons from the country’s Strategic Grain Reserves.
“Millions of Malawians have received food assistance over the past few years – and will continue to receive food assistance until the end of 2007 – thanks to the ongoing support of our donors,” said Scapelli. “Donors seldom get the credit they deserve but without their contributions, large numbers of Malawians would be facing an even harsher lean season.”
Most donations are used to procure food in Malawi so boosting the local economy and strengthening local markets. Since 2001, WFP has bought 140,000 tons of cereals, pulses, Likuni Phala and sugar in Malawi, ploughing over US$33 million into the economy.
Nevertheless, WFP Malawi still requires additional contributions to fund its operations, with another US$24 million needed until the end of the year to meet its current shortfall for the regional protracted relief and recovery operation activities.
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