Storm Ana survivors in Malawi receive food aid

On Thursday, NGOs were providing aid to victims after tropical storm Ana hit the country earlier last week.

In Malawi, the population is starting to get fresh supplies. The World Food Program and other NGOs began organize meal distribution on Thursday. Following tropical storm Ana that hit the country starting from January 25th, many Malawians have lost food safety.

The latest report from Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management says the floods killed 33 and displaced more than 100,000.

Distribution started on February 1st and the World Food Program (WFP) is providing corn-soya bran to some 21,000 households, around 95,000 people in four most affected districts of Chikwawa, Mulanje, Nsanje and Phalombe. The WFP representative in Malawi, Paul Turnbull, said the NGO was currently "prioritizing displaced people living in temporary shelters as it looks for additional resources to scale up its response".

These meal distributions are godsend for flood survivors like Bine Kabaye: "We lost all our food because of the floods and I am happy that today we have received the food because we fled with nothing."

If the focus is put on life-saving commodities namely those, which help for water, for sanitation, nonfood items latrines, cleaning stuff accommodation and the need for tents are yet other concerns for the victims. Aida Saizi, a food beneficiary explains: "We would love to leave the flood-prone area and move upland, but we have no money to buy land on our own."

During President Lazarus Chakwera’s tour to affected areas on Tuesday, he called for more assistance to those affected by floods in over half of the country’s 28 districts. He also vowed to ask African Union heads of state for support in aiding districts affected as the leaders meet this weekend for the annual African Union assembly.

Meanwhile, the World Food Program announced Wednesday that it has set aside an initial amount of $500,000 for relief assistance to the flood victims.