Malawi

Around 43,000 refugees and asylum seekers are registered in the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi. Political instability and social unrest in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions have resulted in a continued flow of refugees into Malawi for over two decades. WFP works to achieve and maintain food security among refugees, transitioning from monthly food distributions to cash-based transfers, as well as promoting income generating activities to increase self-reliance. Despite gains made in improving financial independence, the majority living in camps have no access to livelihood activities, and WFP assistance is the only reliable and predictable source of food for them.

WFP provides relief assistance in times of emergency to save lives and protect livelihoods. The Malawi Country Office is continuing its shift towards resilience, focusing on addressing the structural causes of hunger and aligning that work with resilience interventions wherever possible. WFP is mainstreaming an integrated package of risk management strategies seeking to graduate food and nutrition insecure farming communities from subsistence to surplus-producing livelihoods.

WFP supports education through the provision of daily meals to around 600,000 school children in 452 primary schools, where possible prioritizing the home-grown school feeding approach that promotes using fresh foods bought from local smallholder farmers. WFP is also mainstreaming social behaviour change communication messaging on nutrition in order to prevent malnutrition, and raise awareness on COVID-19 prevention.