'Maize not enough for El Niño response'

By Justin Mkweu: Civil society organisations and agriculturalists have faulted the government on its plans to purchase maize as a strategy for preparing for Super El Niño-induced hunger. This is happening at a time a report by Famine Early Warning Systems Network has indicated that an estimated 1.5 million to 1.99 million Malawians are expected to face hunger during the October 2026 to January 2027 lean season. The estimate is roughly half the four million people who required food assistance during the 2025-26 lean season, according to figures from the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee. Last week, the Ministry of Finance announced that the money for Independence Day celebrations which did not take place would, among other things, be utilised by purchasing maize as one way of mitigating the impact of the impending Super El Niño drought. However, CSOs and agriculturalists have described the strategy as "flawed". Civil Society Agriculture Network (Cisanet) National Director Elizabeth Mnenula Namaona said, on its own, purchasing maize was not a bad idea. She, however, said the move fell short of mitigating the impact of El Niño-induced hunger. "Food security is beyond maize purchase because there are a lot of things that we need if we are to achieve food security. This includes making sure that the country has enough food beyond maize and [also by making] investments in irrigation," Mnenula Namaona said. Chimwaza Her sentiments were echoed by agriculture policy analyst Leonard Chimwaza, who said preparing to purchase maize for an anticipated hunger spell whose farming season had not commenced was not a good strategy. Chimwaza said, with the 2026- 27 farming season yet to start, the government has enough time to make investments that could help make the country food secure and mitigate the anticipated El Niño impact. "That money should have been channelled towards irrigation because the El Niño-induced hunger will be next year and we have time [to prepare]. Further, if we are to purchase [maize], then we need the purchase to be local because El Niño will [likely] affect many countries, including our neighbours," Chimwaza said. Speaking recently in Blantyre, Department of Disaster Management Affairs Director of Disaster Preparedness and Response Charles Matabwa said they were preparing for the eventuality of El Niño but that they would need more support. "There is, indeed, the Super El Niño coming and the food requirement will be huge," Matabwa said. According to the last Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report, about 4.4 million Malawians are food insecure. Last strong El Niños happened during the 2015-16 and 2023- 24 farming seasons, leaving 2.8 million and 4.2 million people, respectively, food insecure.

WIRE — By Justin Mkweu: Civil society organisations and agriculturalists have faulted the government on its plans to purchase maize as a strategy for preparing for Super El Niño-induced hunger. This is happening at a time a report by Famine Early Warning Systems Network has indicated that an estimated 1.5 million to 1.99 million Malawians are expected to face hunger during the October 2026 to January 2027 lean season. The estimate is roughly half the four million people who required food assistance during the 2025-26 lean season, according to figures from the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee. Last week, the Ministry of Finance announced that the money for Independence Day celebrations which did not take place would, among other things, be utilised by purchasing maize as one way of mitigating the impact of the impending Super El Niño drought. However, CSOs and agriculturalists have described the strategy as "flawed". Civil Society Agriculture Network (Cisanet) National Director Elizabeth Mnenula Namaona said, on its own, purchasing maize was not a bad idea. She, however, said the move fell short of mitigating the impact of El Niño-induced hunger. "Food security is beyond maize purchase because there are a lot of things that we need if we are to achieve food security. This includes making sure that the country has enough food beyond maize and [also by making] investments in irrigation," Mnenula Namaona said. Chimwaza Her sentiments were echoed by agriculture policy analyst Leonard Chimwaza, who said preparing to purchase maize for an anticipated hunger spell whose farming season had not commenced was not a good strategy. Chimwaza said, with the 2026- 27 farming season yet to start, the government has enough time to make investments that could help make the country food secure and mitigate the anticipated El Niño impact. "That money should have been channelled towards irrigation because the El Niño-induced hunger will be next year and we have time [to prepare]. Further, if we are to purchase [maize], then we need the purchase to be local because El Niño will [likely] affect many countries, including our neighbours," Chimwaza said. Speaking recently in Blantyre, Department of Disaster Management Affairs Director of Disaster Preparedness and Response Charles Matabwa said they were preparing for the eventuality of El Niño but that they would need more support. "There is, indeed, the Super El Niño coming and the food requirement will be huge," Matabwa said. According to the last Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee report, about 4.4 million Malawians are food insecure. Last strong El Niños happened during the 2015-16 and 2023- 24 farming seasons, leaving 2.8 million and 4.2 million people, respectively, food insecure.

"We aggregate wires to encourage regional discovery, sending readers directly back to the original source to explore full coverage."

This is a normalized overview of the breaking feed event. The complete, official release detailing all points, background context, and statements remains hosted by the original publisher.