More than 300 people have starved to death in Malawi's central and northern regions because of a famine that has been described as the worst in the last 50 years, according to reports from the country. Malawi is the worst hit by the crisis, with women and children in rural areas suffering the most. Many schools have had to close because the children are too hungry and malnourished to attend school. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is responding to this emergency through our ecumenical partner, Action by Churches Together (ACT). ACT has issued an appeal for more than one million dollars to help the most affected people. The following story shows some of the personal impact on villagers in the Phalombe district of Malawi.
Malawi is facing severe famine due to floods and drought. Charles Machado, the man in charge of Mapira's Maize Mill in Phalombe, a small town in South Eastern Malawi, is far from happy with business these days. In fact, he had to dismiss half of his four employees lately because of the famine in Malawi. "Normally we have up to 200 customers every day. Now, the number has dropped alarmingly to 40 to 50. People have simply run out of maize. They are bringing smaller and smaller portions of maize to the mills by the day," he says. The villagers are eating wild seeds as a supplement to their diminishing stock of maize.
In late March, rain falls in Phalombe district from time to time. In Malawi these days the fields are green disturbing the common perception that famine is related to brown and dusty colors. Normally green means fertility. But there is more to it than meets the eye.
If one goes inside a corn field it is quite obvious that the stalks have not developed normal size combs, if any at all. The rains suddenly stopped in the middle of the season, affecting the crops severely. The phrase "Green Hunger" is adequate to the situation for Malawians living in the rural areas.
ACT member Evangelical Lutheran Development Programme (ELDP) has already started distributing food aid in some of the most affected districts. But the demand is much bigger than the stock. Jacob Mtsunji (left), project officer with ELDP, shows how poor the crop is. Lots of maize plants have turned brown before time, yielding combs with less than 50 percent of the normal size, the rest are about two meters high, but without any combs at all. "They are completely useless, nothing will come out of this," he claims.
In the small village Phaloni in Phalombe district, the local farmers are eager to show the kind of local weed most of the villagers are forced to eat these days: Small seeds with very little nutritious value. But this is better than nothing. In Phaloni already 15 to 20 people have died from hunger-- mostly old people and small children.
The people of Phaloni line up patiently at the food distribution center to get their share of the goods. They come from eight small villages and have already registered for food aid. They comprise the strongest members among the around 1,000 families in the villages. They are among the few with enough strength to receive and carry the food rations back to the family. Today they receive maize flour, beans, likuni phala (a highly nutritious food mix for children) and maize seeds. It is far from enough to meet the demand. It is important to continue the support. Malawians will be facing massive starvation later this year when their poor harvest has been eaten.
Source: Action by Churches Together, http://www.act-intl.org.