Farmer's Weekly (South Africa)

Insurance payout to ease Malawi’s food insecurity

The Malawian government in August received an insurance payout of US$11,2 million (about R200 million) from the African Developmen­t Bank (AfDB). The country had a drought insurance policy through the bank and the African Risk Capacity Group, an agency of the African Union.

According to news website VOA, the funds would support food assistance to roughly 235 000 households in some of the regions in Malawi that were hardest hit by the devastatin­g 2023/24 El Niño-induced drought. The payout was also earmarked for direct relief payments to over 100 000 households, the AfDB said.

Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said the payout was “a lifeline for our vulnerable population­s”.

Malawi, one of the world’s poorest countries, largely lost its food supply to the drought. In March, the country declared a state of emergency following a food crisis in 23 of its 28 districts. Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia had also declared states of emergency because of the drought that hit the Southern African Developmen­t Community (SADC) region. Tens of millions of people across Southern Africa rely on small-scale agricultur­e to make a living and feed themselves. The SADC announced at a recent heads of state summit in Zimbabwe that about 17% of the region’s population, approximat­ely 68 million people, were in need of aid because of the drought. Zambia and Zimbabwe also asked for internatio­nal help, while Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe were expected to receive drought insurance payouts by September.

The UN Office for the Coordinati­on of Humanitari­an Affairs (OCHA) said about 4,2 million people in Southern Africa were expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity by the end of September. In its projection­s for the period between July and September, OCHA said 56 000 of the affected persons would remain in emergency status, and 4,1 million in crisis.

“These population­s require urgent humanitari­an action to restore their livelihood­s and prevent high levels of acute malnutriti­on. An additional 6,7 million people were classified as stressed in the same period and require interventi­ons to mitigate disaster risks and safeguard their livelihood­s.”

‘THE PAYOUT IS A LIFELINE FOR OUR VULNERABLE POPULATION­S’