This Operation has been modified and extended in time until 31 December 2011as per Budget revision 6 (see below).

Malawi protracted relief and recovery operation 10586.0 focuses on disaster risk reduction and protecting the livelihoods of food-insecure and vulnerable people. WFP assistance will address the food needs of households enduring successive shocks to health, food production and income that are at risk of hunger and poverty.

Life-saving support will be given to people made food insecure by HIV/AIDS and to households with transitory food needs as a result of shocks. Sustainability will be achieved through strategic partnerships with the Government, communities and stakeholders.

WFP assistance will concentrate on nutrition support for malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women, chronically ill people and their families, patients on anti-retroviral therapy and tuberculosis patients. WFP will work with the Government, United Nations and non-governmental organization partners to protect and improve the livelihoods of people in highly food-insecure communities.

The objectives of this operation are to:

• save lives in crisis situations, especially those affected by sudden transitory food needscaused by small-scale natural disasters (Strategic Objective 1);
• support access to age-appropriate education in primary schools and preschools during the lean period in areas affected by acute food shortages (Strategic Objective 4);
• support improved nutritional status among children, pregnant and lactating women and people living with HIV in target areas (Strategic Objective 3); 
• protect and enhance the livelihoods of food-insecure people, including people living with HIV, in targeted areas (Strategic Objective 2).

WFP assistance contributes to the Government’s growth and development strategy, particularly the social protection and disaster management pillar, by protecting vulnerable people from the effects of economic shocks and natural disasters increasing the assets of the poor and caring for the most vulnerable.

The operation will contribute to Millennium Development Goals 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7. WFP will collaborate with partners to monitor household,  community and national food security indicators to determine when to phase down and to decide on the best way of handing over.

The components of this operation are linked so that beneficiaries can shift from free food distributions to food for assets; linkages with other food security and safety net programmes supported by the Government and the United Nations will allow beneficiaries to transfer to other types of assistance.

Countries

Malawi

Landlocked Malawi, which ranked 160 out of 181 countries in the 2009 UNDP Human Development Report, is a low-income country with a population of 14 million (World Bank, 2008). Poverty is both widespread and severe with 40% of the population living on less than US $1 per day (2009 Government of Malawi MDG Report)....