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INTERIM PROGRESS REPORT FOR ECM FOOD AID AND FOOD SECURITY PROJECT NO
101606 (DECEMBER 2009 TO JANAUARY 2010) SUBMITTED TO CORDAID
Episcopal Conference of Malawi
Name of Implementing Agency: Catholic Development Commission in Malawi of
Chikwawa Diocese
Address of Coordinating Agency PO Box 30384, Lilongwe 3, Malawi
Title of Project: Food Aid and Food Security, Chikwawa Diocese
Project Number 101606
Location Chikwawa Diocese ( Chikwawa and NsanjeDistricts)
Project Start Date 1st December, 2009
Project End Date 28th February, 2010
Overall Objective To improve livelihood and food Security of 1,000
vulnerable households in Chikwawa and Nsanje
Districts undermined by drought and floods
Direct Beneficiaries: 1,000 households
Reporting Period 1st December 2009- 31st January 2010
Authors of the report Louis Kawenda
Carsterns Mulume
Project Total Budget Euro 100,000.00
Total Funds Received Euro 100,000.00
Date of submission 15th February, 2010
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Episcopal Conference of Malawi through its Relief and Developmental Arm titled the Catholic
Development Commission in Malawi has been implementing a food aid and food security project in theDiocese of Chikwawa since 1st December, 2009. The project who seeks to improve the livelihood and food
security of the vulnerable groups is targeting a total of 1,000 households (500 from Chikwawa District and
500 from Nsanje District). The Districts were hit by dry spell and drought during the 2008/2009 growing
season which resulted into food insecurity of 56,000 households in Chikwawa and 34, 000 households in
Nsanje.
For the period between December, 2009 and January, 2010, the project has made tremendous achievements
as per specific objectives and activities as outlined in the project proposal.
Under specific objective 1 ‘To improve food security of 1,000 households in Chikwawa and Nsanje
Districts, a total of 1,000 households have been provide with relief food in the following food basket ( 50 kg
bag of maize, 5 kg bag of beans, 5 kg bag of Corn Soy blend and 2 litres of cooking oil) on a monthly basis.This translate into 100,000 kgs ( 100.0 mt) of maize, 10,000 kgs ( 10.0mt) of beans ,10,000 kgs ( 10.0 mt) of
Corn Soya blend and 2,000 litres of cooking oil. The food basket was meant to meet the nutritional
requirement of 2100 kclas per person per day as per the Spheres Project. The food gap/insecurity has beenreduced through provision of the relief food items.
Under specific objective 2 ‘to improve crop production through access to improved seeds/planting materials,
a total of 500 households have accessed seeds/planting materials. 20 metric ones of sweet potato vines, 1
metric tone of sorghum and 1.0 metric tonnes of cowpeas have been distributed and planted to over 10hectares. It is expected that once the harvests are out, 500 households will increase their agricultural
production and improve their livelihood and food security situation. In addition 500 households have been
trained in proper agronomic practices and are currently using the knowledge gained i.e. practising Sasakawa
Planting system (one seed per planting station). This technology has proved to increase the yield to double per unit area.
Some of the notable challenges include the dry spell that has hit the more than six Districts in the Country
including the districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje. A total of 121,000 households have been affected in Malawi
and out of this 80,000 households are from Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts. More than 250 hectares of crop
land has been dried by the dry spell which occurred in December 2009 and January 2010 of which 120
hectares are from Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts.
Networking and collaboration has resulted in sharing of beneficiary list among the stakeholders in Chikwawa
and Nsanje Districts as well as at the National Office. This has avoided double targeting of the households as
each humanitarian organisation was allocated a specific impact area by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs and the District Executive Committee of the District Assembly.
The food security of the selected 1,000 households has increased following the provision of the relief food
items. The selected households have food reserves from the project in the critical months of December-
March and there are no reports of malnutrition of fewer than five children in the impact areas due to provision
of corn soy blend.
From the progress report, we recommended that the farmers excessively engage in winter cropping and small
scale irrigation to mitigate the effects of the dry spells which has resulted in wilting and drying of crops
which were planted using the rain –fed agriculture. Currently, farmers are practising the winter cropping
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where they have planted maize seed, sweet potatoes, assorted vegetables, cassava cuttings and sorghum. This
will ensure improved livelihood of the vulnerable households as effects of climate change is being felt
heavily now.
1.0 COUNTRY OPERATING CONTEXT.
Southern Africa, where Malawi lies, is one of the regions estimated to be most at risk from climate
change. While policy responses to global warming have been mainly driven by debates among scientists,
the insights of poor people living on the frontline have been largely neglected.
Malawi is an already severely poor country facing an AIDS pandemic, chronic malnutrition, declining
soil fertility, shortages of land and inadequate agricultural policies. About 6.3 million Malawians live
below the poverty line, the majority in rural areas, with more than 90% relying on rain-fed subsistence
farming to survive. Evidence strongly suggests that increased droughts and floods may be exacerbating
poverty levels, leaving many rural farmers trapped in a cycle of poverty and vulnerability.
Due to over reliance on rain-fed agriculture, peoples livelihood are very vulnerable to shocks.
Floods and drought are the most frequently occurring natural hazards in Malawi and have been classified
to cause the highest economic losses. With regards to economic losses, in recent history, Malawi wasmost affected by droughts of 1987, 1992, 1994, 2004 and 2005.
On the other hand floods related cyclonic weather patterns have occurred in 1991, 1997, 2001, and 2003
and more recently in 2008.
The 2009/2010 dry spell that has affected more than 121,000 households and damaged more that 250,000hectares of land have seen three people being killed on suspicious that they are holding the rains. They
were suspected to be practicing witchcraft and holing the rains.
This development has been condemned heavily by Police, Government and civil societies. Civil Society
organizations have called for an intensive training in climate change to rural people, local leaders, district
authorities and school going children. The dry spell is attributed to effect of climate change and this has to
very clear to farmers to avoid a similar scenario in future. They have also called for mainstreaming of the
DRR in livelihood, food security and other programs/projects.
1.1 Food Security situation and Vulnerability
The food security situation remains favorable except for the districts of Chikwawa, Nsanje, and parts of
Balaka, and Zomba districts, where prolonged dry spells caused production failures in the 2008/09
production season between January and March 2010; however, while food production is expected to
remain favorable between April and June, total production is likely to be reduced in the 2010 harvest in
the districts of Mwanza, Neno, Chikwawa Nsanje, Mulanje, Phalombe, Balaka, and Ntcheu. Unfavorable
cotton marketing further eroded household incomes, thereby affecting market-based food access
opportunities. An updated MVAC assessment conducted in October found that the number of food-
insecure people in need of urgent food assistance had increased to 275,168 from 147,492 due to erodedincomes from cotton sales which had sold at an average of MK 30/kg as compared to MK 65 in the 2008
marketing season.
In a meeting on December 8, 2009, the NFRA reported that the Strategic Grain Reserve had 140,000 MT
against a set maximum of 60,000 MT. They also reported that they were in the process of tendering for
the purchase of an additional 30,000 MT. The Grain Traders Association of Malawi, which encompasses
large private grain traders, declared 74,375MT of stocks in its possession. ADMARC reported that as of
December 4, 2009, it had procured a stock of 44,917 MT of maize, 5,000 MT paddy rice, and 1300 MT of
pulses. Reports from non-affected districts indicate that households are still consuming food from their
own production, with some districts registering below three percent of households which have run out of
food from production as of November and December 2009. This shows that the country has enough food
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stocks. On January 12, 2010, ADMARC communicated that they had started selling maize at MK 60/kg,
which would be officially announced by the Government in the following week or two (Famine and Early
Warning Systems Network –Malawi Food Security Outlook January-June 2010).
1.2 Rainfall and Vulnerability
Rains have started in all three regions of Malawi, and the majority of farmers have planted. However, the
rains have been sporadic, with dry conditions persisting, especially in the South. This will likely lead to
local food deficits. By the end of December 2009, the suppressed rainfall was reported to be hindering basal dressing and causing crop wilting. Short-term rainfall forecasts show persistent dry spells
continuing in the south.
The government has so far identified more than 121,000 households whose crops have either wilted or not
germinated, and will have to replant. This is a preliminary count, and the figure is expected to rise
significantly, because some districts have not yet been assessed. No program to support these households
with inputs has been announced.
From December 6-20, 2009, Karonga District (Mzuzu Diocese) was hit by series of earthquakes have
caused displacement and disruption of farming activities. 1, 557 houses collapsed, 4, houses had cracks,186 people were injured and 4 people died. This may cause local production failures. The situation
requires close monitoring. (Famine and Early Warning Systems Network –Malawi Food Security Outlook January-June 2010).
1.3 Food availability and Food prices
Most of the poor and middle households are now dependent on markets for food in all the food-insecure
districts. However, instead of maize price rising as we enter the peak hunger period, prices in most
markets — including those in the affected areas — have either stabilized or are experiencing a slight
decrease.
In Nsanje as of December 14, 2009, a district agriculture office reported that maize was selling at MK 45/kg in the local markets and MK 60/kg in ADMARC markets. Apart from those populations identified
as food insecure by the MVAC, most households were accessing food through purchases after realizing
income from sugarcane, fruit, and forest-based products, livestock, and fish sales in addition to incomes
from casual labour. So far, no abnormal coping has been reported. Maize was available in all local and
ADMARC markets with households preferring to buy the cheap maize from the local markets and not
ADMARC.
In Chikwawa, maize was readily available in the local markets with vendors charging MK 45 – 48/ kg,
which is still cheaper than the MK 52 charged by ADMARC in the 2008 season. Most of the maize was
coming from Mwanza, Blantyre, Thyolo, and Mozambique, yet it was still selling at a cheaper price,
indicating that there was no pressure on maize demand.
As for Balaka, maize was available in local markets; most of it was being supplied from Mwanza,
Ntcheu, Mchinji, Mulanje, and Mozambique. As of November 30, 2009, maize was selling in local
markets at MK 40 to MK 50/kg. To access food, households were adapting coping strategies such asengaging in casual labour (ganyu), intensification of charcoal burning, collection of firewood, petty trade,
quarry mining, and sale of small livestock. Part of Chingale EPA in Zomba, which lies along the Middle
Shire livelihood zone and borders the vulnerable Balaka EPAs, had 16,153 people at risk due to income
losses from cotton marketing. Markets in this area were being supplied by areas in the same EPA that liein the Shire Highlands livelihood zone and experienced surplus production. Maize was readily available,
but households were not purchasing the food due to eroded incomes. In Chingale, maize was selling at an
average price of MK 55/kg, well above the current national average of MK 35 to MK 45/kg (Famine and
Early Warning Systems Network –Malawi Food Security Outlook January-June 2010).
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2.0 PROJECT CONTEXT
According to Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) of which CADECOM is one of the
active members in its June 2009 state of food insecurity and vulnerability in Malawi for 2009-2010 report
indicated that the national outlook of food availability is very good. Cereal production for the 2009-2010consumption year shows that Malawi produced 3.6 million metric tons of Maize against a nationalrequirement of 2.4 million metric tones. This means that Malawi has 1.2 million metric tons maize
surplus. Last year’s surplus was 0.5 million metric tons.
The good crop production has been attributed to favorable weather conditions and increased input uptake
from the agricultural input subsidy programme.
Despite the good rains, three districts in southern Malawi namely: Chikwawa, Nsanje and Balaka
experienced some prolonged dry spells which caused local production deficits. These deficits have also
led to reduced access to seeds/planting materials for the households and according to FEWSNET Malawi
Food Security Outlook April to September 2009 report, these households will also require seeds to enable
winter and rain fed agriculture to take place.
The report indicated that some households in affected three districts will need support to access food
especially in the last 2 quarters of the year (December 2009- March 2010).
Summary of the food insecurity situation were as follows.
District Population No of Food Insecure
Households
% of the food insecure
households
Chikwawa 438,895 57,596 13.2
Nsanje 238,089 34,564 14.5
Mangochi 316,748 55,332 17.46
Total 993,732 147,493 14.8
It is of the above background that the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi, which is the relief
and developmental arm of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi developed a proposal in food aid and food
security to respond to the situation.
Project Overall Objective
Livelihoods of vulnerable households undermined by drought and floods improved in Nsanje and
Chikwawa Districts in Malawi
Project Specific Objectives
1. Improved food security of 1,000 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010
through access to food aid.
2. Improved crop production of 500 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010through access to seeds/planting materials
Project Expected Results
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1. 1,000 food insecure households meet their immediate food requirement
2. 500 seed insecure households enhance their crop production through access to seeds/planting
materials.
3.0 PROJECT PROGRESS3.1 National Office
National Office has a number of key tasks that it had to perform in this project. Some of the notable tasks
include:
Networking and collaboration with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, Malawi
Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) , Famine and Early Warning Systems Network
( FEWSNET) , Donor partners and other relevant stakeholders at the National level, District
Executive Committee ( DEC) at the District level.
Facilitating planning meeting of the project with Chikwawa Diocese
Monitoring project Implementation
Reporting to the donor partners and other stakeholders
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Progress towards objectives-National Office
Specific Objective 1: Improved food security of 1,000 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to food aid
Planned Activity Implemented activity Achievements ( Impact) Challenges Lessons Learnt Comments
To conduct 1 planning meetingfor the project targeting 5Diocesan staff members
1 planning meeting wasconducted in ChikwawaCADECOM CentralOffice on 30th
November, 2009 withan attendance of twonational office staff and5 Chikwawa Diocesestaff
The planning meetingcame up with theimplementation plan and
beneficiary selection
criteria which haveresulted intoimplementation of the
project according to planwith the first distributionin December and thesecond in January as
planned. The project hastargeted the right
beneficiaries using the setselection criteria whichincluded food insecurehouseholds, thechronically ill, the orphanheaded households
Networking andcollaboration with other stakeholders at both
National and District
level is key in projectsof this nature as it hasresulted in do doubletargeting of the
beneficiaries asCADECOM wasallocated an impact areawithin its overall impactarea to implement the
project and no any other stakeholder was allowedto operate in the samearea
To conduct three networkingand collaboration meetings withstakeholders
3 networking andcollaborationmeeting/communicatio
n took place. Thedepartment of Disaster
Management Affairswas informed about the
project and was the onewho allocated the
Districts where the project should be
National Office hascontributed toimprovement of food
security situation of 1.000households through the
project. It has alsostrengthened its
networking andcollaboration and
increased the marketing of CADECOM work in
Networking andcollaboration results intotargeting the right
beneficiaries and impactarea. Beneficiary list and
reports have been sharedwith stakeholders at
National and districtlevel
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implemented, while theDistrict Assembly
allocated the impactarea in the District
where the projectshould be implemented
CADECOM alsoshared the project with
MVAC and FEWSNET
as key partners in theassessment of foodsecurity andvulnerability in Malawi.Monthly reports have
been send to thedisaster department andother donor partnerswho were interested inthe project updates i.e.USAID ( Food For Peace)
Malawi which can informthe basis of advocacy and
lobbying
To procure 150 metric tonnes of maize,6000 litres of cooking oil,7.5 metric tonnes of corn soy
blend and 15 metric tonnes of beans ( pulses) for distribution
150 metric tonnes of maize, 6000 litres of cooking oil, 7.5 metric
tonnes of corn soy blend and 15 metrictonnes of beans were
procured from RabProcessors in earlyDecember, 2009. The
food items weresupplied and delivered
within the month whichsaw the first distribution
taking place during thelast week of December,
The supplied and procuredfood items has reducedthe food gap among
1,000 households as itenabled them to meet their immediate foodrequirement and improvetheir food securitysituation
Presence of internal procurement committee , procurement guidelines
and contract agreementsmade it possible to procure the food items professionally andwithin a short period of time( two weeks)
Samples of the foitems were sent Malawi Bureau
Standards (MBS) testing against the commodityspecifications.Results has shothat the meet the
specifications. Twas done bef
distribution of food to ensure saf
standards as outlin
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2009 in the spheres proje
Specific Objective 2: Improved crop production of 500 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to
seeds/planting materials
Procurement of seeds/plantingmaterials (20 metric tonnes of sweet potatoes,1 metric tons of
sorghum, 1 metric tons of cowpeas
20 metric tines of sweet potato vines, 1 metrictons of sorghum seed
and 1 metric tons of cowpeas seed was
procured from Liwonde
Market ResourceCenter ( MACEFRANCHISE) and
distributed to 500households for plantingto respond to the seedinsecurity situation
The seeds/plantingmaterials once harvestedwill increase the crop
production and improvethe crop yield resulting in
improved livelihood and
food security of theselected households
With the change of rainfall pattern due to
effect of climatechange , farmers need to
engage seriously inwinter cropping / smallscale irrigation tomitigate the effect of dryspell which has hit theimpact areas and other five districts
Need to procanother seeds/planting
materials using savings from
material purch
budget line as crop stand of distribute crops is
promising due to dry spell and farmneed to re-plant in dambo to avoid looming hunger
To monitor implementation of the project ( food and seeddistribution and crop stand
1 monitoring visit wasconducted during thetwo months. It wasconducted in January,2010 during the seconddistribution. It wasconducted by the
National CADECOMSecretary, the NationalRelief Coordinator
The crop stand is vey pathetic and not promising. Even thedrought resistant crops i.e.Sorghum has succumbedto the dry spell and if farmers do not re-plant in
winter, hunger is looming.
Monitoring provided firsthand assessment on thecrop stand and foodsecurity situation in thearea
There is need for farmers not to depend onrain fed agriculture onlyas the year has seen fivedistricts being hit by thedry spell and crops beingwilted and dried.
Farmers need to re-plantin the dambos (winter cropping) if they have tomitigate the effects of dry spells due to climatechange.
For those farmerswithout irrigable land,
they need to diversifytheir income sources to
enable them purchase
National Offthrough CommunicationDepartment produa video documentof the visit which
been shared with
partner during submission of Interim Report of DRR.
Both electronic a print media attend
the event areported on the sa
Through the meCADECOM has b
able to market it w
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the food and improvetheir livelihood
which will form bafor advocacy a
lobbying for accto food and seeds
the affechouseholds
To submit one interim report( narrative and financial) before
submission of end of project
report
1 interim report( narrative and financial
) has been compiled and
being submitted to the partner ( this one)which is in line with the
project agreement
The report provided andopportunity to track
progress of the
implementation in relationto the project document( proposal)
Reporting provide a basis for assessment of
progress of the project
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CHIKWAWA DIOCESE
Chikwawa Diocese lies in the southern region Of Malawi. The Diocese is made of Chikwawa, Nsanje
and part of Thyolo District District. Chikwawa has a population of 438,895 while Nsanje has a
population of 238,089 (2008 population census report)
The beneficiaries were selected based on the following criteria:
• Food insecure households who have no food from their own production or from other sources
• Food Insecure HIV and AIDS infected and affected households
• Food insecure female headed households
• Food insecure child-headed households
• Food insecure orphan headed households
• Under five malnourished children
• Food insecure elderly headed households
• Households with access to land and willing to produce summer crop.
The following households were selected in the three impact areas:
District Parish T/A Number of Beneficiaries
Men Women Total
Nsanje Tengani Tengani 121 129 250
Kalemba Mbenje 88 162 250
Chikwawa Ngabu Ngabu and
Sub-Chief
Masache
181 319 500
Total 390 610 1,000
According to the developed implementation plan, the Diocese was tasked to do a number of activities in
the project to contribute to attainment of project objectives and overall goal.
Among the key activities were as follows:
To conduct sensitization at District Executive Committee ( DEC) in Chikwawa and Nsanje
Districts Conduct DEC Meeting
To conduct recruitment of temporary project staff ( food distribution Officers) to assist in the
execution of the project
To conduct sensitization meetings with the communities
To conduct actual distribution of food and seeds/planting materials
To conduct food distribution monitoring T o conduct capacity building of farmers in proper agronomic practices
To submit monthly reports to National Office
The project impact areas are as below:
District Parish T/A Villages
Nsanje Tengani Tengani Dodomeka, Chitsa, Sapatongwe,Mtondo, Kachere, Pangeti, Kazingizi
and Mangani
Kalemba Mbenje Sorjeni, Sikedi, GVH Anne, Mello,
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Kachelenga and Kuyeli
Chikwawa Ngabu Ngabu and Nyambiro, Machado and Chingondo.
Ngabu Sub- Chief
Masache
Thenesi , Ndandika and Mtuwa
Picture 1:
Relief food items in the warehouse at Ngabu Parish, Chikwawa Diocese
Picture2:
Food Distribution Exercise to the food insecure households in Nsanje District
Picture 3:
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Due to extreme hot weather, about 2% of the procured sweet potatoes vines got scotched with the sun
before they could be planted.
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PROJECT PROGRESS TOWARDS OBJECTIVES-CHIKWAWA DIOCESE
Specific Objective 1: Improved food security of 1,000 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to food aid
Planned Activity Implemented Activity Achievement
( Impact)
Challenges Lesson Learnt Comments
To conduct 1 planningmeeting with the NationalOffice targeting 5 staff members
I planning meetingconducted , attended by 7staff members, two from the
National Office in
November, 2009
The planning meetingcame up with theimplementation planand beneficiary
selection criteriawhich have resultedinto implementation of
the project according to plan with the first
distribution inDecember and the
second in January as planned. The project
has targeted the right beneficiaries using theset selection criteriawhich included foodinsecure households,the chronically ill, theorphan headed
households
Networking andcollaboration with other stakeholders at both
National and District
level is key in projects of this nature as it hasresulted in do double
targeting of the beneficiaries as
CADECOM wasallocated an impact area
within its overall impactarea to implement the
project and no any other stakeholder was allowedto operate in the samearea
To sensitize DistrictExecutive Committeemembers on the project inChikwawa and NsanjeDistricts
Two DEC meetings wereconducted in Nsanje andChikwawa Districts Themeeting was also attendedthe District Disaster Protection Committee. Atotal of 59 people (54 menand 5 women )
CADECOM wasassigned to implementthe project in the sitewhere they areimpacting the currentDRR programme so asto have maximumimpact and sustain theactivities under theDRR
It lead to no doubletargeting of beneficiariesas all the stakeholders inthe two districts wereallocated areas wherethey have to operate if they have a project torespond to the foodinsecurity situation
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To recruit six temporallystaff members to assist in the
execution of the project
Four food distributionofficers, 0ne food aid
monitor and 0ne warehousekeeper have been recruited
The project is beingimplemented as per the
developedimplementation plan
due to the presence of staff
Project of this nature( emergency ) need
already qualified staff asevidenced by the good
quality work of the staff members that have been
done
To sensitize 3 communities
from Chitsa, Dolo and Ngabu
on the project
3 communities sensitized on
the project interms of
objectives, time frame,targeting criteria, food
basket
Sensitization meetings
assisted in the targeting
of the right beneficiaries as thecommittee and local
leaders were aware of the criteria and applied
the same whenselecting 1,000 project
beneficiaries
Sensitisation helps the
target communities
understand the projectand targeting as per theset criteria a and
implement the activitiesas outlined in the project
document
To target 1,000 households to
benefit from the fooddistribution
Targeted a total of 1,000
households ( 310 men and690 women)
1,000 households have
reduced their foodrequirement gap andhave food reservesduring the criticalmonths (Dec-February). No reportsof malnutrition due to
food insecurity as previously reported
Provision aid ensures
food security in the nextseason as the targethouseholds are able toconcentrate in their cropfields rather than goingout for casual labour insearch of food. They
have also power to work effectively in their fields
To identify 1 warehouse tostock the food commoditiesduring the project life span
1 warehouse was identified by Ngabu Parish at a cost of MK10,000.00 per month
Identification of thewarehouse made it
possible to stock thefood items before beingtransported to finaldistribution centers for distribution to the
beneficiaries
Presence of DiocesanWarehouses is very keyas it lessen the storage
problems and reduce therental charges
To distribute food aid ( 100 Distributed 100 metric tons Food security of 1,000 Meeting food
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metric tons of maize,4000litres of cooking oil,10 metric
tonnes of beans , 5 metrictonnes of corn soy blend
of maize,4000 litres of cooking oil,10 metric tonnes
of beans , 5 metric tonnes of corn soy blend
households hasimproved as their
immediate foodrequirement has been
met. No reports of malnutrition and going
out for casual laboursin search of food due
to provision of the
same by the project
requirement of the foodinsecure households
ensures active participation in the field
due to improved foodsecurity and this reduces
the occurrence of thesame scenario in the
subsequent years
Specific Objective 2: Improved crop production of 500 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to seeds/planting
materials
To conduct 3 sensitizationmeetings on the component of
access to seeds/plantingmaterials
3 sensitization meetingstargeting 3 communities
( Chitsa, Dolo and Ndandika) conducted .
Attended by 600 people( 250 men and 350 women)
The communities wereaware of the selection
criteria for the seed provision component
and the local leadersand the project
committee used theselection criteria tocome up with a list of
beneficiaries to benefitfrom the component
Sensitization enabled thelocal leaders and the
project committee tocome up with the right
beneficiaries through useof the set selection
criteria which includethose with land to plantthe seeds/plantingmaterials , those withenergy to produce andmanage the crop field
To target and register 500
households to benefit fromthe seeds/planting materials
500 households were
targeted, verified andregistered
500 households who
received theseeds/plantings have
been able to plant intheir fields and onceharvested willcontribute to anincrease in crop
production , foodsecurity and livelihood
Right targeting of
households ensures thatall the seeds/plantingmaterials is put into rightuse i.e. no selling of theseeds/planting materials
Distribution of 20 metrictonnes of sweet potatoes, 1
20 metric tons of sweet potatoes, 1 metric tons of
Once harvested in April2010, there will be
Procurement of theseeds/planting materials
Procurement anddistribution of the
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metric tons of cowpeas and 1metric of sorghum and 2,502
kgs of OPV Maize
cowpeas and 1 metric of sorghum and 2,502 kgs
OPV Maize have beendistributed to 500
households
increased crop yieldand increased food
security throughaccessibility and
availability of the same
need to be done beforethe first rainfall to enable
the farmer’s plant withthe same. With change in
rainfall pattern , late planting of the seeds due
to ;late procurement isresulting in crop failure
due to a number of
factors which include dryspells
seeds/planting materialswas done in December,
2009 which was within th planting period, farmers
planted, however twoweeks after planting the
districts were hot by thedry spell and up to now
rains have not fallen to al
the parts. This is veryalarming as may result ianother food insecurity ahigh vulnerability in thenext season unlessfarmers re-plant in thedambo
To conduct training in proper agronomic practices for thedistributed seeds/plantingmaterials in collaborationwith the Ministry of Agriculture and FoodSecurity field staff at theDistrict level in the threeimpact areas
Three training sessionsconducted and some of thetopics covered were cropfield management and postharvest management, pestand disease control. A totalof 1251 (775 women and476 men ) have been trained
The trained people are practising proper agronomic practicesfor the crops and thiswill contribute toincreased yield due to
proper managementand increase the foodsecurity situation of the
participatinghouseholds
Capacity building of farmers in proper agronomic practices andother areas is importantas it enhances their capacity and enablesthem to increase the yieldthrough following
proper agronomic
practices
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FOOD DISTRBUTION Table
The following are the quantities of food that were distributed to the three impact areas during December
2009 and January 2010 distributions
MONITORING AND LEARNING
The National Office took part in beneficiary verification and registration as well as during the second
food distribution exercise as part of its monitoring, facilitation role.
National Office has also conducted a field visit to the project sites to access the crop stand and the effects
of the dry spell. Preliminary findings are showing that there might be looming hunger next season if
framers do not engage in winter cropping and diversify their income sources. CADECOM has embarked
on winter cropping and currently farmers are busy preparing for the winter cropping in April.
The Diocese also took part in the monitoring of the project to ensure that the project activities are done
timely and objectively.
The CADECOM Secretary for Chikwawa Diocese took part in the following: Sensitization of DEC
members and Parish priests concerned, supervision of warehousing activities and food distribution
programme.
Name of
FDP
Beneficiaries Category
No. of
Depen
dents
Commodities Distributed
Men Wome
n
Total
Chroni
cally
ill
Elderl
y
person
s
Orpha
n Care
givers
Food
Insecure
HH
Maize
(Kgs
)
Pulses
(Kgs )
CSB
(Kgs )
Cook
oil
(Litre
Nyamithuth
u
87 162 249 83 21 51 94 1049 24,90
0
2490
1245
496
Magoti 121 129 250 70 16 47 117 557 25,000
2500
1250
500
Dolo 181 319 501 97 103 89 212 1405 50,10
0
5010 2505 1002
Total 389 610 1,00
0
250 139 187
423 3,010 100,
000
10,00
0
5000 1 99
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COLLABORATION/ NETWORKING
During the programme several organizations and government rendered a lot of support for the
success of the project follows:
No. Organization Support Rendered
1.0 District Assemblies Facilitated DEC meetings and provided lists of names for
Government Food Aid beneficiaries.
2.0 Ministry of Agriculture and
Food Security
Gave support during beneficiary registration, verification
and seed distribution for the smooth registration process.
3.0 World Vision International Provision of lists of names for Government Food Aid
beneficiaries in collaboration with district Assemblies for
the smooth registration process.
4.0 River of Life Evangelical
Project
Provision of lists of names for Government Food Aid
beneficiaries in collaboration with district Assemblies.
5.0 Other NGOs Assisted in Food Aid Project location.
CHALLENGES/CONSRAINTS
The December 2009 to January 2010 dry spell that has affected over 121,000 households in
Malawi in which 15,000 households are beneficiaries of the program in the districts of
Chikwawa, Nsanje, Mulanje, Balaka and Mangochi. Over 72 hectares of land have their crops
wilted and if farmers do not replant and engage in winter cropping, there is danger of looming
hunger in the next six months.
Food insecurity situation of some beneficiary households- CADECOM with financial support
from Cordaid is assisting 1,000 households with relief food ( Maize, beans, cooking oil and
Likuni Phala) out the 275,000 households that are food insecure ( Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) 2009 food security update report)
KEY LESSONS LEARNT FROM IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT
Collaboration and networking avoid double targeting of households as beneficiary lists are shared
among all the stakeholders in the field of relief in the District.
Involvement of church authorities (parish priests) and local leaders in the project ensured timely
implementation of activities as these people are respected in the community.