Malawi food crisis 'in control'

2005-09-27 17:42

Blantyre - Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika said on Tuesday that his administration was in control of the food crisis ravaging the southern African nation.

Mutharika said: "The government is in full control... we are managing the situation."

He said: "We have set aside $41m to buy food... we will be distributing the food to rural areas as soon as possible", adding that the country was planning to import 300 000 tons of corn from South Africa.

Malawi had yet to start distributing food aid on a massive scale.

Some 4.2 million Malawians, a third of the population, were in dire need of food aid after the worst drought in a decade cut national corn output by almost a quarter.

Hunger-related diseases

The United Nations World Food Programme said food shortages were severe in the populous southern region, where most households had already run out of food.

Mutharika denied reports that some people had died from hunger-related diseases, saying he would need to inquire from health authorities about the deaths.

He said: "What do you mean by hunger-related diseases and issues... It would be regrettable for people to die of hunger."

Mutharika said his administration would develop irrigation "to feed us even if it does not rain".

He said: "We don't have to cry for food... we have to go for irrigation."

Only two percent of Malawi's 2.7 million hectares of cultivable land was under irrigation.

Food shortages were a perennial problem in Malawi, where up to 60% of rural households were unable to meet their nutritional requirements.

- AFP