By Chisomo Kambandanga 

Nkhata Bay, January 21, Mana: Director of Disaster Preparedness in the Department of Disaster Management Affairs' (DoDMA), Moses Chimphepo, has announced government's plans to disburse over K730 million to support households affected by hunger in Nkhata Bay.

Chimphepo disclosed this on Monday during a briefing to Disaster Risk Management Committee members.

Chimphepo said the initiative is part of the ongoing 2024/2025 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Programme aimed at supporting families affected by hunger across the country.

"Instead of distributing bags of maize, Nkhata Bay, along with other districts like Kasungu and Mzimba, has been earmarked for the social cash transfer modality for the month of January.

"Each of the 10,494 households that are on the programme in Nkhata Bay will receive K70,000.00 cash, translating to K734,564,444.00," he said.

Chimphepo urged the council to avoid any fraud in the exercise so that intended beneficiaries benefit.

In his remarks, District Commissioner for Nkhata Bay Rodgers Newa said that the social cash transfer modality was good as it will enable beneficiaries to buy a bag of maize and remain with some cash.

"Let me commend DoDMA for this approach. Be assured that we will smoothly carry out the exercise according to your expectation and frameworks, building upon a number of cash disbursement programs that we already have in the district, " he said.

Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report established that about 5.7 million Malawians will be in dire need of food aid during the lean period from October 2024 to March 2025.