Operations

The road infrastructure in Malawi is amongst the poorest in Africa and further deteriorates as a result of flooding, which breaks down the road surface and washes away bridges. So far, WFP has managed to deliver relief cargo using its specialized fleet of 6x6 or 4x4 cargo trucks. Still, delays occur by as much as days, weeks, and sometimes even months – creating potentially life-threatening conditions to the people most in need in Malawi.

Following the discussions and assessments in cooperation with RedR of Australia, the Government of Malawi Roads Authority, the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, European Commission and Malawi Social Action Fund, WFP is launching this Special Operation to facilitate the timely delivery of food and non-food commodities to the beneficiaries of relief assistance the least expensive mode of transport on 12 routes in 7 districts of Malawi.

This project is part of a comprehensive approach to facilitate the improvement of the road infrastructure in Malawi. Based on the priorities identified during the assessment, two phases are actually considered to facilitate the improvement of the road infrastructure in Malawi. The first phase translates into this Special Operation focusing on priority routes causing the greatest delays in delivering food assistance, particularly during the rainy season when project sites are most difficult to access. The second phase, subject to availability of funding would consist of the rehabilitation of the remaining roads and bridges that are not covered under any of the Government programmes.

Under this Special Operation WFP aims at rehabilitating roads on the 12 critical routes improving access to beneficiaries in 31 schools and 3 health centres in 7 districts as follows:

• Road rehabilitation or construction on 150.8 km of designated roads (D class) and undesignated roads (UD class).
• Construction of drainage structures such as drifts, bridges and culverts for 302m.

This special operation is essential to ensure a timely and cost effective distribution of  food commodities to school going children and other WFP beneficiaries under the school feeding and nutrition projects, at locations isolated because of road and bridge deterioration in Malawi.

This Special Operation will have a duration of 12 months and a total cost of US$ 1,873,639.

Countries

Malawi

Landlocked Malawi, which is currently ranked 164 out of 177 on the Human Development Index, is a low-income, food-deficient and least developed country with the majority of its population of 12 million living below the poverty line. Poverty is both widespread and severe with a national poverty rate of 52 percent varying across regions....