Towards Food Security

The partnership between ADRA Malawi and WFP dates back to 2001. It was during the 2001/2002 planting season in which Malawi experienced a major drought which forced the government to declare a state of emergency on the national food security. The U N agency WFP together with other NGOs teamed up in order to curb the situation. A total number of twelve NGOs formed a consortium in the name of Joint Emergency Food Aid Program ( JEFAP ) which ADRA Malawi was amongst the membership. Each NGO was assigned its area of operation/ District. WFPs duty was to source the food items and NGOs did the distributions. Since then any national emergency is coordinated by the lead NGO, which is a member of JEFAP consortium in a particular area.

Currently ADRA Malawi as a member of JEFAP consortium is the lead NGO in Phalombe District which is one of the flood prone areas in the southern part of Malawi. ADRA is implementing a WFP funded program in emergency and relief operation. It is a three year program which started in Jan.08 and will finish in Dec.2010.

This program is targeting 5099 beneficiaries.

Under this program there are three components namely, Food For Work, HIV/AIDS and Sustainable Livelihood Interventions.

Food For Work activities targets able bodied households with food insecurity and beneficiaries are asked to create assets for the benefit of the community like fish ponds and irrigation dams, in return they receive a monthly ration of food items. HIV/AIDS activities target households with food insecurity and are keeping chronically ill patients or orphans. On this program beneficiaries receives a monthly ration of food items with no work for it. Unlike in the food for work.

Sustainable Livelihood Intervention (SLI) program targets HIV beneficiaries. They are supplied with small scale livestock like goats and poultry and bakery ovens for IGA as an exit strategy to the HIV program. The out of school orphans are provided with vocational training skills like carpentry, tinsmith and tailoring with start up kits as a capital for their IGAs.

These programs have had a lot of impact on the beneficiaries and community as a whole. It has improved nutrition status in the communities as verified by the nutrition survey recently conducted by MoH in the district. The food distribution has saved 5099 families from hunger and absolute poverty. This means that 25000 people have been provided with daily food rations and saved from hunger. There has been a great reduction on male migration from Phalombe to Mozambique for search of food. Development at community and house hold levels has been enhanced since people’s migration has been reduced and sale of asserts by families has been reduced.

Author: Hastings Lacha - ADRA Malawi Emergency Preparedness and Relief Coordinator