By Chisomo Kambandanga

Nkhata Bay, February 4, Mana: Government, through the Department of Disaster and Management Affairs (DoDMA), has embarked on distribution of relief maize to hunger stricken households in Nkhata Bay District.

Speaking Saturday at Makumbo during a maize distribution exercise, District Commissioner for Nkhata Bay, Rodgers Newa, said about 10,222 households in the district are expected to receive the assistance for two months.

“A few months ago, government pledged to provide relief maize to hunger stricken, vulnerable and needy households. We are here today witnessing the fulfilment of that promise.

“Each targeted household is expected to receive two 50 kilogramme bags of maize from January to February, 2024. We were expected to start the exercise early January but we delayed due to some challenges,” said Newa.

He said, to ensure that all targeted households are reached, the exercise will first target all hard to reach areas such as Usisya, Thoto and Makumbo.

Group Village Head Mbalambala under Traditional Authority (TA) Zilakoma said the maize will go a long way in promoting good health among people in the area.

One of the beneficiaries, Maria Banda, of Mtaza Village commended government for the timely support and fulfilment of its promise.

The food distribution exercise is a response to the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report which estimated that about 4.4 million people across the country will likely not meet their annual food requirement during the 2023/2024 consumption period.