United Kingdom Department for International Development (UKAid) has donated K3.4 billion to 21, 000 beneficiaries of Balaka District on lean season social cash transfer programme which runs from November, 2022 to March, 2023.
Speaking after the donation in Traditional Authority (TA) Kalembo in Balaka, Acting British High Commissioner, Sophia Willets-King said beneficiaries will be receiving cash while implementing integrated resilient projects which include health, water management, climate smart agriculture and irrigation.
“People in the district need help to feed their families especially in this lean season and we have donated cash,” she said.
Willets-King expressed satisfaction on how integrated resilient project which started three years ago is going on in TA Kalembo, describing it as on track to curbing hunger.
“This is the way to empower communities to make sure that they have better future. For instance, a lady here commended the project, saying she has increased her yields from three bags of maize in the past years to 30 bags now,” she added.
Chief Agricultural Development and Natural Resources Officer for Balaka, Dennis Zingeni said Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) indicated that the previous season 21, 000 farmers from Balaka ran short of food at household level as such they needed immediate food assistance.
“Every farmer is receiving K25, 000 and they will be able to buy food stuffs. We are also happy that our donors have seen a lot of things on the ground which mainly focuses on resilience such as smart agriculture technologies aimed at reducing hunger,” said Zingeni.
One of the beneficiaries, Violet White of Michesi Village expressed gratitude for the donation, saying she will use the money to buy food stuffs as she used to rely on mangoes as her daily food.
The project is being implemented in partnership with the World Food Programme, PROSPER and Find Your Feet.
