Lilongwe, Malawi … The warning spread across the nation like sheets of rain in a typhoon. The Integrated Food Security survey had warned between October 2022 and March 2023 an estimated 3.8 million, or 20% of the entire nation would face acute shortages of food. There was no place to hide, no place to go, no way to prepare. It was too big, too widespread, too all encompassing. Now it is here! Food prices have skyrocketed, with orphans and the elderly suffering the most.
This was the plight in Malawi even BEFORE Cyclone Freddy struck in the early March. For many the situation continues to grow more and more serious by the day.
Action for Progress (AfP) had made every effort to prepare. With the help of the Malawi Project and Orphan Grain Train in the U.S. food was shipped to the Lilongwe warehouse. While AfP was able to respond immediately to the Cyclone the food supply was quickly exhausted.
Seath Kaphunga
Seath Kaphunga traveled a long distance to reach one of the distribution sites in the capital city of Lilongwe. She said the last meal she had was with pumpkin leaves. Her face reflected her weakness and hunger, as her granddaughter stood in line to receive food on behalf of her grandmother. Standing for a long period of time was just too much.
Seath would have food on this night. Others were served as well, but as the AfP team concluded their work that day little did they know Freddy would soon visit their country and exhaust every bag and package of food they could muster up. There would just not be enough food to go around.