Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat). It was answered on Wednesday, 9 November 2005 on behalf of the Department for International Development.

Malawi

Question: This year's harvest in Malawi was exceptionally poor and the Secretary of State will be aware that there are another five months until the next one. The situation is bad and getting worse. Given that the Church of Scotland estimates that some 5 million lives may be at risk in Malawi, what steps can he take to ensure that those people are not left to die?

Answer: I share the hon. Gentleman's concern about the seriousness of the situation. The harvest was down by about a quarter and Malawi now seems to suffer a very severe drought every 10 years. However, the assessment system for anticipating the scale of the crisis has worked quite well. We currently estimate that, overall, about 4.4 million people will require food. Of course, the problem is not just the failure of the harvest but the impact of AIDS on people's capacity to cope, along with the high price of maize. From memory, maize costs some 16 kwacha per kilo in the north of the country and 46 kwacha per kilo in the south, where the problem is most acute. Trying to bring down the price so that people can afford to buy maize is important, but above all, it is about ensuring that food is distributed. I spoke to the Malawian President last week, and to the Finance Minister this morning, about the situation. The steps that are being taken suggest that the international community and the Government of Malawi, working together, will be in a position to deal with the crisis, but we keep the situation under very close review.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 439 c287-8
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: International assistance Humanitarian aid Food HIV/AIDS Droughts Food aid Malawi Maize
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk