WFP to feed 600 000 inlean season response

World Food Programme (WFP) says it will feed about 600 000 food-insecure people in four districts in the Southern Region during the 2026/27 lean season when acute hunger is projected to affect 2.6 million people.

The United Nations agency said in its August 2026 Malawi Country Brief that its emergency lean season response will target people in Nsanje, Chikwawa, Phalombe and Zomba districts between October 2026 and March 2027 when the next harvest is expected.

“Timely funding is required to procure and pre-position commodities before needs intensify,” reads the brief.

A beneficiary carries her bag home during a

previous exercise. | Nation

WFP’s intervention plan comes against a Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis projecting that more than 2.6 million people will face acute hunger during the lean season.

However, WFP said it faces an estimated $17 million (about K29.7 billion) funding gap for its lean season response. Overall, the agency has a $96 million (about K168 billion) shortfall for its operations between August 2026 and January 2027, which it warns could interrupt critical assistance.

The shortfall also threatens nutrition and school-feeding programmes.

WFP said cases of moderate acute malnutrition are increasing as Malawi approaches the lean season, while stocks of specialised nutritious foods are expected to last only until November.

Since 2025, the agency has supported the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in managing moderate acute malnutrition among more than 145 000 children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and people living with HIV or tuberculosis.

The agency also said 611 800 learners risk losing school meals from September because of funding constraints.

WFP requires $19.7 million (about K33.6 billion) to sustain the school feeding programme throughout the 2026/27 academic year.

Earlier this month, Mvac, a multi-stakeholder grouping, estimated that cushioning vulnerable people during the lean season would require 97 887 metric tonnes of maize worth about K124.3 billion for three to four months.

Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) commissioner Wilson Moleni said at the time that the 2026/27 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Plan would be ready by the first week of September for rollout in October.

During the 2025/26 consumption period, about four million people, representing 22 percent of the country’s projected population of 18.5 million at the time, faced hunger.