Iceland and Norway help World Food Programme (WFP) mount response as hunger peaks in Malawi

Iceland and Norway help World Food Programme (WFP) mount response as hunger peaks in Malawi

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a total US$ 4.1 million contribution from the Government of Iceland and the Government of Norway to support thousands of people facing severe hunger at the peak of the lean season in Malawi.

The joint contribution – comprised of US$3.6 million from Norway and US$500,000 from Iceland - will provide critical humanitarian assistance to some 270,000 people through cash-based transfers in the districts of Balaka and Chikwawa where smallholder farmers have been heavily affected by climate shocks and rising food prices.

“We commend the Governments of Norway and Iceland for their strong commitment to ensuring the food security of the most vulnerable during this exceptionally difficult lean season,” says Paul Turnbull, WFP’s Country Director in Malawi. “As world leaders and experts meet at COP27 in Egypt, we must highlight the urgent need to help communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis and invest in durable solutions.”

Some 3.8 million people are estimated to be acutely food insecure and in need of food assistance between October 2022 and March 2023 according to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report – over 130 percent increase compared to the same time last year. Malawi