WFP Malawi
Country Brief
July 2024

In Numbers
5.7 million people acutely food insecure in Malawi
between October 2024 and March 2025
USD 48 million six-month net funding requirements forAugust 2024 – January 2025 representing 28 percent oftotal.
45,843 refugees assisted with cash transfers in July 2024
60%

40%

Operational Context

Operational Updates

Malawi is a small landlocked country in Sub-Saharan Africa witha population expanding rapidly at 3 percent per year. With mostlivelihoods dependent on rainfed agriculture, the population ishighly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters, especiallydrought and cyclone-induced floods.

El Niño Response: In July, WFP started the procurementof maize and fortified corn soya cereal to provide an initial
1.5 million people with food assistance. WFP has procured
30,533 mt of maize and 317 mt of fortified corn soya
cereal blend. WFP will provide food and cash-basedtransfers to acutely food-insecure households in the six
districts of Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Machinga, Nsanjeand Phalombe. WFP plans to start distributions fromSeptember.

Malawi’s challenges are compounded by weak economic
growth, high overall debt distress, low primary school
completion (51 percent), a high prevalence of stunting and highprevalence of HIV/AIDS infection (8.8 percent). WFP supports
the Government for a food and nutrition secure and resilient
future, guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has beenpresent in Malawi since 1965. The country is facing a foodsecurity crisis because of El Niño-induced dry spells that
affected 44 percent of the national crop area.

Refugees: WFP provides cash transfers to refugees inDzaleka Refugee Camp to maintain food and nutrition
security amongst targeted households. In June 2024, WFP
provided cash transfers to 45,843 refugees and asylum
seekers at 50 percent of the ration. With the availability of
new funding, WFP will increase the ration to 75 percent
from August.
Nutrition: Impacts of El Niño, include a 40 percent
increase in cases of moderate acute malnutrition and a 23percent increase in severe acute malnutrition in children
under-5. WFP is supporting the Government to resume
facility-based management of MAM through a
supplementary feeding programme (SFP) targeting
17,600 children under-5 in the four districts of Blantyre,
Chikwawa, Machinga and Nsanje. Towards this, WFP
procured 317 mt of fortified corn soya cereal blend andre-trained 392 SFP service providers from 98 healthfacilities on SFP procedures.
Livelihoods: WFP is promoting irrigation agriculture as a
strategic response to enhance water management, foodsecurity and climate resilience amidst challenges posedby El Niño in Malawi. In July, WFP continued to provide
technical oversight monitoring in the design andconstruction of two river diversion gravity-fed irrigation
schemes in Mulanje District. The construction of oneirrigation scheme is completed while the other scheme
will be finished in August 2024.

Population: est. 20 million

2022 Human Development Index:
169 out of 193 countries

Income Level: Low

Stunting: 35 percent of children
aged 6-59 months oldPhoto: A farmer shows her cabbage harvest grown with support fromWFP’s irrigation scheme in Zomba District. © WFP/Francisco Fhote.
Contact info: Kylie Scott (kylie.scott@wfp.org)
Country Director and Representative: Paul Turnbull
Further information: www.wfp.org/countries/malawi

Operational Updates (continued)

WFP Country Strategy
Country Strategic Plan (2024-2028)
Total Requirement(in USD)

AllocatedContributions (in USD)

169.6 m66.2 mSix Month Net Funding
Requirements (in USD)

48 m

Strategic Result 1: Everyone has access to food
Strategic Outcome 1: People are better able to meet their urgent foodand nutrition needs.
Focus area: Crisis Response
Activity 1: Provide food assistance, nutrition, and livelihood support topopulations in anticipation of and response to seasonal or other shocks,
leveraging national social protection systems where possible.
Activity 2: Provide food and nutrition assistance, services and livelihood
support to refugees, asylum seekers and host communities.
Strategic Result 2: End malnutrition
Strategic Outcome 2: People have better nutrition, health & education.
Focus area: Root Causes
Activity 3. Promote optimal nutrition practices and strengthen partnerships
with food system actors to increase availability and utilisation of diversified
nutrient dense foods.
Activity 4. Promote the provision of safe, nutritious, and diversified meals
to pre and primary school children delivered in an integrated, inclusive andgender responsive environment, and linked to local production andmarkets
Strategic Result 3: Sustainable Food Systems
Strategic Outcome 3: People have improved & sustainable livelihoods.
Focus area: Resilience building
Activity 5: Provide an integrated package of climate and nutrition-sensitive
resilience and livelihoods building support to households andcommunities, particularly smallholder farmers and value chain actors.
Strategic Result 4: Capacity Strengthening
Strategic Outcome 4: National programmes & systems arestrengthened.
Focus area: Resilience Building
Activity 6. Provide technical support to national and sub-national actors forresilient food systems, emergency preparedness and response, health, andsupply chain systems.
Activity 7. Provide technical expertise and targeted systems and capacities
to national and local actors involved in food and nutrition security, social
protection, education, health, disaster risk management, anticipatory
action and emergency preparedness and response aimed at building
government-led, sustainable, scalable national systems.
Strategic Result 5: Enhance Global Partnerships
Strategic Outcome 5: Humanitarian & development actors are more
efficient & effective.
Focus area: Crisis response
Activity 8. Provide services through the Logistics Cluster to the National
Disaster Management Agency and humanitarian and development partners
to enhance logistics coordination and supply chain management.
Activity 9. Provide effective and efficient access to on-demand services toGovernment, humanitarian, and development actors to augment theircapacity to ensure more effective and efficient interventions.

WFP Malawi Country Brief
July 2024

Food Systems: WFP provides technical support to nationaland sub-national actors for resilient food systems,
emergency preparedness and response, health, and supply
chain systems. In July, WFP partnered with the AgriculturalDevelopment and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) toestablish a technical working group in Malawi. This initiative
aims to strengthen food security and market growth throughcollaborative efforts at both national and sub-national levels.
The working group initiated 28 task teams across the country
to focus on critical areas such as value chain development,
value addition, human resources, financial partnerships, andequipment and infrastructure management. These efforts
are pivotal in ensuring that food remains available ataffordable prices through a sustainable ADMARC, thereby
enhancing national food security. Health Supply Chain: InJuly, WFP conducted consultations with ten key health supply
chain actors in Malawi in preparation of the last iteration ofthe health supply chain simulation exercise (SimEx) plannedfor between 18 to 24 August 2024 in Blantyre and Nsanje
districts. The SimEx will validate and enhance preparednessand response plans, procedures and systems for all hazards
and capabilities during emergencies. WFP is facing funding
constraints to sustain and expand the SimEx in Malawi
beyond 2024.
Emergency Preparedness and Response: Under the ECHO
Humanitarian Implementation Plans Anticipatory Action
funded project, WFP and the Department of Disaster
Management Affairs (DoDMA) are developing a National
Prepositioning Strategy. Between June and July, incollaboration with DoDMA and district councils throughout
Southern Region, WFP assessed over 300 warehousefacilities. The mapping initiative is aimed to identify sites forprepositioning lifesaving supplies and to prepare for rapid
onset emergency storage needs.
On-demand Service Provision: As co-lead of the Logistics
Cluster, WFP is providing logistical support to DoDMA for
distribution of maize for the 2023/2024 lean season
response. In July, WFP transported 790 mt of maize to Ntcheu
and Nsanje districts. Since November 2023, WFP has
transported 37,491 mt of maize from strategic grain reservestorage facilities to food distribution points. WFP also
provided support to the Government for the importation anddistribution of maize flour. In total, in collaboration withDoDMA, WFP has distributed 23,616 mt of maize flour sinceFebruary.

DonorsAdaptation Fund, Canada, Denmark, European Civil
Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO),
European Union International Partnerships (INTPA), France,Denmark, Germany, Government of Flanders, Iceland,
Multilateral Funds, Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea,
Sweden, Switzerland, Takeda, United Kingdom Foreign
Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), United
Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), andUnited States Agency for International Development Bureaufor Humanitarian Assistance (USAID BHA) (in alphabeticalorder).