Brendan O’Hara – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for International Development

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Brendan O’Hara on 2016-10-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to tackle the effects of food shortages in Malawi.

James Wharton

The humanitarian situation in Malawi is concerning. Some 6.5 million people are currently assessed to be in need of food security assistance. The UK has acted quickly, responding with a commitment of £35 million, a significant proportion of which is aimed at the food and nutrition response. This includes logistics support through the World Food Programme to enable the delivery of food to 4.75 million people, and cash transfers through an International Non-Governmental Organisations consortium to enable over 250,000 of the most vulnerable to purchase food. The UK has provided emergency nutrition support, including screening for over 1 million children, and treatment of 100,000 emergency cases. As well as this immediate support the UK is working closely with other key actors to identify and progress ways to break the cycle of food insecurity in Malawi.