As the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and partners are drawing towards conclusion of provision of assistance to food insecure households under the MVAC Humanitarian Response Programme, challenges are never absent.
The provision of maize in hard to reach areas, especially when it rains cats and dogs, has never been easy as roads become impassable and in some cases, councils have to struggle to get the relief maize to intended beneficiaries. In some districts, trucks got stuck on their way to final distribution points.
In other situations, some areas are not reachable by road and councils have no option but to use boats in ferrying maize, which takes a lot of time.
For instance, wood-boats carrying 20 tonnes of maize have to endure eight hours of sailing through Lake Malawi from Nkhata Bay Boma to TA Mkondowe.
Despite the challenges, DoDMA and councils are working tirelessly to reach beneficiaries in the most hard to reach areas. Currently, as of 14th February, 2022 the department, through councils, had finalised distributing maize to beneficiaries in Chitipa, Karonga, Rumphi, Mzuzu City, Nkhata Bay, Salima, Ntchisi, Mchinji, Mwanza and Thyolo.
Commissioner for Disaster Management Affairs, Charles Kalemba has since commended DoDMA staff, councils and partners for their efforts in reaching out to food insecure households under the MVAC Humanitarian Response Programme despite the challenges being encountered.
