Mutharika’s food for thought

Just a few months into his new term, President Peter Mutharika is grappling with a triple crisis—a deep-seated food emergency, diminishing aid, and soaring debt.

With over four million Malawians—about 22 percent of the population—facing the threat of acute malnutrition until the next harvest in March, Mutharika has declared a nationwide State of  Disaster in all 28 districts.

But the $119 million humanitarian response is underfunded. Although crucial to staving off the risk of hunger-related deaths, it has so far raised only $26 million from Malawi’s aid partners—roughly 21percent of the amount required.

The trigger for Malawi’s food emergency has been a 20 percent drop in maize yields last year as a result of drought and localised flooding.

The harvest failure hit small-scale farmers especially hard – the backbone of food production.

The problem is not just food availability, but also its affordability. Reduced farm output, a severe foreign exchange shortage, plus perennial fuel scarcities, have pushed Malawi’s inflation rate to around 28 percent—the highest in Africa.

Even though Monica Jasteni runs a small fish business in her home area of Salima, in central Malawi, the 34-year-old mother of four is struggling.

“The money I make is not enough [to buy the food we need],” she told The New Human

itarian. “I try to persuade my children to go to school without eating, telling them that they’ll have food after school, because things are difficult.”

She supplements what she makes from selling fish by also farming. But as she can’t afford irrigation, her small plot is susceptible to dry spells.

The experience of Jasteni—trying to make ends meet, yet failing—is why a coalition of 50 civil society organisations is demanding urgent action by the government.

“The hunger crisis is a huge national emergency,” said Amon Lukhele, national coordinator of the Civil Society Social Protection Network (CSSPN). “We are calling upon the government to act now to protect the poorest households before the hunger situation worsens.”

CSSPN wants the government to accelerate implementation of its National Social Protection Policy, a safety net programme that aims to provide relief to the most vulnerable.

But Mutharika, elected in September, has inherited public finances in a critical state. That has put pressure on what spending the government can afford, and the speed with which remedial programmes can be rolled out.

Malawi is heavily debt-distressed. Its total debt burden is around $9.25 billion – an unsustainable 86 percent of GDP. It also faces a looming debt service obligation of $1.8 billion.

That affects not only economic growth, but also the provision of essential social services. As a result, Malawi spends more on debt servicing than it does on health.