Highlights
According to the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC), 6.5 million people are food insecure and in urgent need of food assistance in 24 districts. This represents 39% of the country population and the needs vary across the affected districts. The lean season will span from July 2016 to March 2017, when the humanitarian situation is expected to peak among the most vulnerable children and women.
An emergency response plan has been developed under the leadership of the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA), with active participation from all clusters. The overall plan is targeting 6.5 million people in 24 of the most affected districts and requires US $395 million. By mid-July the appeal had a resource gap of US $304 million.
UNICEF, with its implementing partners, is continuing the mass mobilization and screening drive for children under five years of age to identify early malnutrition conditions and make referrals to treatment facilities.
29,850 children under five have been admitted in outpatient therapeutic programs and nutrition rehabilitation units across the 25 drought affected districts as of end of June, while 177,741 children have been immunized against measles and 50,260 people have been provided with safe drinking water in districts affected by cholera, floods and drought.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
The Malawi annual Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis forecasts that a total population of 6,491,847 representing 39% of total population will not be able to meet their annual minimum food requirements during the 2016/2017 consumption period. This figure represents 129% increase over last year’s figure of 2,833,212. A total of 24 districts have been affected and these include: Mzimba and Rumphi in the Northern Region; Dedza, Dowa, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Mchinji, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Ntcheu and Salima in the Central Region; Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Phalombe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mulanje, Mwanza, Neno, Nsanje, Thyolo and Zomba in the Southern Region. The affected districts have annual food deficits ranging from 3 to 9 months and require 375,000 MT of food assistance with a cash value of MK113 billion.
A Food Insecurity Response Plan (FIRP), developed by the Government of Malawi in collaboration with the UN and NGOs through the humanitarian clusters, identifies Food Security, Nutrition, Agriculture, Health, Education and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) as the key priority sectors for immediate assistance. The overall plan is targeting 6.5 million people in 24 of the most affected districts and requires US $395 million. By mid-July when it was launched, the appeal had a resource gap of US $304 million.
New cholera cases have been reported during the week of 25 to 31 July 2016 (one from Nsanje, two from Zomba and two from Machinga) with no deaths. Cumulatively 1,736 cases with 46 deaths have been registered representing a Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of 2.6% which is above the World Health Organization recommendation. In addition, a total of 320 suspected cases of typhoid have been registered in Zomba (316), Mwanza (2), and Mangochi (1), and Neno districts (1).
Of these 4 have tested positive of typhoid. No new cases were registered during the week of 25 -31 July. There has been no deaths since the beginning of the outbreak in mid-June 2016.