FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 02/02 - MALAWI (2 February)
Food supply is very tight following a decline of one- quarter in the 2001 maize crop which was affected by excessive rains and floods. The strategic grain reserve which, despite bumper harvests in the previous two years, was at a low level at the beginning of the marketing year in April, has now been depleted. Prices of maize, the food staple, have increased by an average of 400 percent from their levels of a year ago. This has sharply reduced access to food for large sections of the vulnerable population. The Government has made arrangements to import 150 000 tonnes of maize but by late January only 60 000 tonnes had entered the country due to transport problems in the sub-region. However, substantial flows of largely unrecorded cross-border imports from Mozambique and Tanzania are reported. At the household level, food shortages have emerged in southern parts of the country, where floods affected nearly 650 000 people last year and severe crop losses were experienced. The Government has appealed for international food aid.
Prospects for the 2002 cereal crops, to be harvested from mid-April are generally favourable reflecting abundant rains since the beginning of the season and the maize crop is reported in good conditions in most parts of the country. However, excessive rains in December, the second dekad of January and early February caused many rivers to burst their banks resulting in localized floods in 11 of the 27 districts of the country. Worst affected districts are Karonga, Salima, Blantyre and Chikwawa. Overall 20 000 households are reported to have suffered property and crops losses. While the extent of the damage to crops is not yet known, the excessive rains are likely to have resulted in yield reductions in these areas.