This includes our own project which is supporting thousands of Malawian small holder farmers, particularly women, in many areas affected by the current drought. This support is hugely welcome, and builds on the Government’s long-term development investment to Malawi. The Scottish Government is matching pound-for- pound the first £70,000 of all public donations to our appeal, meaning supporters can make twice the impact with their donation. We’re now asking the people of Scotland to support those in crisis in Scotland has long-lasting links with Malawi, built on deep people-to- people connections. Support from the international community is urgently needed. A total of £12 million is needed for Oxfam to provide aid to 650,000 people in Malawi until mid-2017 – but right now our response is worryingly under-funded. Oxfam is working in coordination with the Government of Malawi and other agencies to reach the most vulnerable people, focusing on ‘hotspot’ areas where food is short and families are most in need. This figure includes around 975,000 children under two years old who are at particularly high risk of food insecurity and malnutrition. The Malawian Government has declared a ‘State of Natural Disaster’ and announced that 6.5 million people are facing food insecurity over the course of 2016 to Some families are resorting to using unsafe surface water as their only option, increasing their vulnerability to water-borne disease, including cholera. As water sources dry up, women and girls must travel farther to collect water. Harvests have completely failed, or are much lower than usual. Throughout Malawi conditions are the same, and Oxfam teams are meeting family after family with stories like Stezia’s. And then what would we do at planting time?” We have nothing to sell except just a few tools, but the price will be so low, as everyone will be doing the same. “The few sweet potatoes we grow will not last even one month. “I do not know how I will feed my children,” she Ziyangoyango estimates that even with this sacrifice food will run out in August. They’ve already cut back to two meals a day to make the maize last longer. This year, because of the drought, they harvested only seven bags. This was enough to feed their family of eight with enough left over to sell to make some extra money. In good times she and her husband could depend on getting 20 bags of maize each year. Stezia Ziyangoyango’s family relies on what they grow on their small farm in Ntcheu district in southern Malawi. Much of Malawi depends on growing maize – but it is one of the most vulnerable crops to drought. The El Niño weather phenomenon, exacerbated by climate change, has caused long dry spells in some areas and flooding in others, destroying crops and decimating harvests. This is the reality right now for millions of people in Malawi as they suffer the effects of the worst drought Southern Africa has seen for 35 years.
Imagine fearing that in a few weeks’ time, you won’t be able to feed your children at all. Imagine seeing your small stocks of food dwindle. Imagine only having a third of the food you need to feed your family.