Catholic bishops in Malawi have called for urgent assistance from the international community and on their government to radically reform the agricultural sector, as the country declares a state of emergency with over half the population requiring food aid.
"The current historic hunger threatens the life of many Malawians,” the Episcopal Conference of Malawi said in a statement signed by its chairman, Archbishop Thomas Msusa of Blantyre, on 1 July.
The bishops commended President Peter Mutharika for declaring a state of national disaster in April but said that the gravity of the situation requires long term as well as immediate solutions.
Malawi is considered the worst affected country in the southern African region, which is suffering drought blamed on an unusually strong El Nino weather phenomenon. The country’s maize production has dropped by 12 per cent, leaving it short of the one million tons needed to feed the population. Over 6.5 million people are estimated to face food insecurity, a recent government assessment has predicted.
A reported £237m in aid is needed to support the affected population. Noting that these funds would save lives, the Bishops urged national and international stakeholders and people of good will to come forward in support of those in need of food aid.
John Makina, Oxfam country director in Malawi, said the repetitive nature of the nation’s struggle with food insecurity meant the necessary funds were increasingly harder to obtain.
“The donors just do not have the money; there is donor fatigue. Malawi has been hit by drought, then floods, then drought. The donors are getting tired of it,” he said.
The bishops made a plea to their own government for action, calling for reforms to the agriculture sector and saying that a "paradigm shift” in the way Malawi dealt with issues of food security was needed.
“While we acknowledge the attributed causes of food insecurity by our country, it is high time we started thinking differently as a nation,” read the statement.
“Policies and strategic plans without actions are nothing. We feel as a nation we need a complete paradigm shift in the way we do things, no more business as usual on food security issues. Food security translates into the very sanctity of life,” continues the statement.
The country needs sustainable and innovative ways of supporting farmers in the rural areas where most of the population live and where the prevalence of food insecurity is highest, said the bishops.
The bishops called for improvements to agricultural infrastructure, which they described as dilapidated. "We call upon the government to be committed to food security in Malawi by enacting the Right to Food Bill," they concluded.
Malawi is one of eight southern African countries to declare national emergencies due to drought. More than £502m and 7.9m tons of food are needed immediately across the African region, says the UN.
By Christmas, the situation will have become severe. Donor countries, believing that Ethiopia in 1985 was the last of the large-scale famines, have been slow to pledge funds or support.
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