Assistance is off to a slow start in some districts due to logistical challenges
KEY MESSAGES
• Humanitarian assistance started in October in most of the districts recommended by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) food security assessment findings in July. In November the remaining districts began receiving assistance and full funding for assistance has been secured for continued response programming. As a result of this assistance poor households in these areas of concern are facing Minimal (IPC Phase 1!) and Stressed acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 2!) outcomes.
• Overall, national average maize prices have risen minimally within the last month but are in the range of FEWS NET’s earlier price projections for the October-December period. Traders are attributing the slow rise in prices to increase availability of subsidized maize in Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) markets and possibly due to ongoing humanitarian assistance distributions which started in October.
• The MVAC has updated the food security situation and two districts from Thyolo-Mulanje Tea (TMT) and one from Rift Valley Escarpment (RFT) livelihood zone have been added to the list of districts requiring humanitarian assistance during the January to March 2014 period. The total population requiring food security assistance has increased from approximately 1.5 million to 1.8 million.
