Food Aid Progress Report for December 2009revsd Chikwawa

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INTERIM PROGRESS REPORT FOR ECM FOOD AID AND FOOD SECURITY PROJECT NO

101606 (DECEMBER 2009 TO JANAUARY 2010) SUBMITTED TO CORDAID

Episcopal Conference of Malawi

Name of Implementing Agency: Catholic Development Commission in Malawi of

Chikwawa Diocese

Address of Coordinating Agency PO Box 30384, Lilongwe 3, Malawi

Title of Project: Food Aid and Food Security, Chikwawa Diocese

Project Number 101606

Location Chikwawa Diocese ( Chikwawa and NsanjeDistricts)

Project Start Date 1st December, 2009

Project End Date 28th February, 2010

Overall Objective To improve livelihood and food Security of 1,000

vulnerable households in Chikwawa and Nsanje

Districts undermined by drought and floods

Direct Beneficiaries: 1,000 households

Reporting Period 1st December 2009- 31st January 2010

Authors of the report Louis Kawenda

Carsterns Mulume

Project Total Budget Euro 100,000.00

Total Funds Received Euro 100,000.00

Date of submission 15th February, 2010



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Episcopal Conference of Malawi through its Relief and Developmental Arm titled the Catholic

Development Commission in Malawi has been implementing a food aid and food security project in theDiocese of Chikwawa since 1st December, 2009. The project who seeks to improve the livelihood and food

security of the vulnerable groups is targeting a total of 1,000 households (500 from Chikwawa District and

500 from Nsanje District). The Districts were hit by dry spell and drought during the 2008/2009 growing

season which resulted into food insecurity of 56,000 households in Chikwawa and 34, 000 households in

Nsanje.

For the period between December, 2009 and January, 2010, the project has made tremendous achievements

as per specific objectives and activities as outlined in the project proposal.

Under specific objective 1 ‘To improve food security of 1,000 households in Chikwawa and Nsanje

Districts, a total of 1,000 households have been provide with relief food in the following food basket ( 50 kg

bag of maize, 5 kg bag of beans, 5 kg bag of Corn Soy blend and 2 litres of cooking oil) on a monthly basis.This translate into 100,000 kgs ( 100.0 mt) of maize, 10,000 kgs ( 10.0mt) of beans ,10,000 kgs ( 10.0 mt) of

Corn Soya blend and 2,000 litres of cooking oil. The food basket was meant to meet the nutritional

requirement of 2100 kclas per person per day as per the Spheres Project. The food gap/insecurity has beenreduced through provision of the relief food items.

Under specific objective 2 ‘to improve crop production through access to improved seeds/planting materials,

a total of 500 households have accessed seeds/planting materials. 20 metric ones of sweet potato vines, 1

metric tone of sorghum and 1.0 metric tonnes of cowpeas have been distributed and planted to over 10hectares. It is expected that once the harvests are out, 500 households will increase their agricultural

production and improve their livelihood and food security situation. In addition 500 households have been

trained in proper agronomic practices and are currently using the knowledge gained i.e. practising Sasakawa

Planting system (one seed per planting station). This technology has proved to increase the yield to double per unit area.

Some of the notable challenges include the dry spell that has hit the more than six Districts in the Country

including the districts of Chikwawa and Nsanje. A total of 121,000 households have been affected in Malawi

and out of this 80,000 households are from Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts. More than 250 hectares of crop

land has been dried by the dry spell which occurred in December 2009 and January 2010 of which 120

hectares are from Chikwawa and Nsanje Districts.

Networking and collaboration has resulted in sharing of beneficiary list among the stakeholders in Chikwawa

and Nsanje Districts as well as at the National Office. This has avoided double targeting of the households as

each humanitarian organisation was allocated a specific impact area by the Department of Disaster Management Affairs and the District Executive Committee of the District Assembly.

The food security of the selected 1,000 households has increased following the provision of the relief food

items. The selected households have food reserves from the project in the critical months of December-

March and there are no reports of malnutrition of fewer than five children in the impact areas due to provision

of corn soy blend.

From the progress report, we recommended that the farmers excessively engage in winter cropping and small

scale irrigation to mitigate the effects of the dry spells which has resulted in wilting and drying of crops

which were planted using the rain –fed agriculture. Currently, farmers are practising the winter cropping



where they have planted maize seed, sweet potatoes, assorted vegetables, cassava cuttings and sorghum. This

will ensure improved livelihood of the vulnerable households as effects of climate change is being felt

heavily now.

1.0 COUNTRY OPERATING CONTEXT.

Southern Africa, where Malawi lies, is one of the regions estimated to be most at risk from climate

change. While policy responses to global warming have been mainly driven by debates among scientists,

the insights of poor people living on the frontline have been largely neglected.

Malawi is an already severely poor country facing an AIDS pandemic, chronic malnutrition, declining

soil fertility, shortages of land and inadequate agricultural policies. About 6.3 million Malawians live

below the poverty line, the majority in rural areas, with more than 90% relying on rain-fed subsistence

farming to survive. Evidence strongly suggests that increased droughts and floods may be exacerbating

poverty levels, leaving many rural farmers trapped in a cycle of poverty and vulnerability.

Due to over reliance on rain-fed agriculture, peoples livelihood are very vulnerable to shocks.

Floods and drought are the most frequently occurring natural hazards in Malawi and have been classified

to cause the highest economic losses. With regards to economic losses, in recent history, Malawi wasmost affected by droughts of 1987, 1992, 1994, 2004 and 2005.

On the other hand floods related cyclonic weather patterns have occurred in 1991, 1997, 2001, and 2003

and more recently in 2008.

The 2009/2010 dry spell that has affected more than 121,000 households and damaged more that 250,000hectares of land have seen three people being killed on suspicious that they are holding the rains. They

were suspected to be practicing witchcraft and holing the rains.

This development has been condemned heavily by Police, Government and civil societies. Civil Society

organizations have called for an intensive training in climate change to rural people, local leaders, district

authorities and school going children. The dry spell is attributed to effect of climate change and this has to

very clear to farmers to avoid a similar scenario in future. They have also called for mainstreaming of the

DRR in livelihood, food security and other programs/projects.

1.1 Food Security situation and Vulnerability

The food security situation remains favorable except for the districts of Chikwawa, Nsanje, and parts of

Balaka, and Zomba districts, where prolonged dry spells caused production failures in the 2008/09

production season between January and March 2010; however, while food production is expected to

remain favorable between April and June, total production is likely to be reduced in the 2010 harvest in

the districts of Mwanza, Neno, Chikwawa Nsanje, Mulanje, Phalombe, Balaka, and Ntcheu. Unfavorable

cotton marketing further eroded household incomes, thereby affecting market-based food access

opportunities. An updated MVAC assessment conducted in October found that the number of food-

insecure people in need of urgent food assistance had increased to 275,168 from 147,492 due to erodedincomes from cotton sales which had sold at an average of MK 30/kg as compared to MK 65 in the 2008

marketing season.

In a meeting on December 8, 2009, the NFRA reported that the Strategic Grain Reserve had 140,000 MT

against a set maximum of 60,000 MT. They also reported that they were in the process of tendering for

the purchase of an additional 30,000 MT. The Grain Traders Association of Malawi, which encompasses

large private grain traders, declared 74,375MT of stocks in its possession. ADMARC reported that as of

December 4, 2009, it had procured a stock of 44,917 MT of maize, 5,000 MT paddy rice, and 1300 MT of

pulses. Reports from non-affected districts indicate that households are still consuming food from their

own production, with some districts registering below three percent of households which have run out of

food from production as of November and December 2009. This shows that the country has enough food



stocks. On January 12, 2010, ADMARC communicated that they had started selling maize at MK 60/kg,

which would be officially announced by the Government in the following week or two (Famine and Early

Warning Systems Network –Malawi Food Security Outlook January-June 2010).

1.2 Rainfall and Vulnerability

Rains have started in all three regions of Malawi, and the majority of farmers have planted. However, the

rains have been sporadic, with dry conditions persisting, especially in the South. This will likely lead to

local food deficits. By the end of December 2009, the suppressed rainfall was reported to be hindering basal dressing and causing crop wilting. Short-term rainfall forecasts show persistent dry spells

continuing in the south.

The government has so far identified more than 121,000 households whose crops have either wilted or not

germinated, and will have to replant. This is a preliminary count, and the figure is expected to rise

significantly, because some districts have not yet been assessed. No program to support these households

with inputs has been announced.

From December 6-20, 2009, Karonga District (Mzuzu Diocese) was hit by series of earthquakes have

caused displacement and disruption of farming activities. 1, 557 houses collapsed, 4, houses had cracks,186 people were injured and 4 people died. This may cause local production failures. The situation

requires close monitoring. (Famine and Early Warning Systems Network –Malawi Food Security Outlook January-June 2010).

1.3 Food availability and Food prices

Most of the poor and middle households are now dependent on markets for food in all the food-insecure

districts. However, instead of maize price rising as we enter the peak hunger period, prices in most

markets — including those in the affected areas — have either stabilized or are experiencing a slight

decrease.

In Nsanje as of December 14, 2009, a district agriculture office reported that maize was selling at MK 45/kg in the local markets and MK 60/kg in ADMARC markets. Apart from those populations identified

as food insecure by the MVAC, most households were accessing food through purchases after realizing

income from sugarcane, fruit, and forest-based products, livestock, and fish sales in addition to incomes

from casual labour. So far, no abnormal coping has been reported. Maize was available in all local and

ADMARC markets with households preferring to buy the cheap maize from the local markets and not

ADMARC.

In Chikwawa, maize was readily available in the local markets with vendors charging MK 45 – 48/ kg,

which is still cheaper than the MK 52 charged by ADMARC in the 2008 season. Most of the maize was

coming from Mwanza, Blantyre, Thyolo, and Mozambique, yet it was still selling at a cheaper price,

indicating that there was no pressure on maize demand.

As for Balaka, maize was available in local markets; most of it was being supplied from Mwanza,

Ntcheu, Mchinji, Mulanje, and Mozambique. As of November 30, 2009, maize was selling in local

markets at MK 40 to MK 50/kg. To access food, households were adapting coping strategies such asengaging in casual labour (ganyu), intensification of charcoal burning, collection of firewood, petty trade,

quarry mining, and sale of small livestock. Part of Chingale EPA in Zomba, which lies along the Middle

Shire livelihood zone and borders the vulnerable Balaka EPAs, had 16,153 people at risk due to income

losses from cotton marketing. Markets in this area were being supplied by areas in the same EPA that liein the Shire Highlands livelihood zone and experienced surplus production. Maize was readily available,

but households were not purchasing the food due to eroded incomes. In Chingale, maize was selling at an

average price of MK 55/kg, well above the current national average of MK 35 to MK 45/kg (Famine and

Early Warning Systems Network –Malawi Food Security Outlook January-June 2010).



2.0 PROJECT CONTEXT

According to Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) of which CADECOM is one of the

active members in its June 2009 state of food insecurity and vulnerability in Malawi for 2009-2010 report

indicated that the national outlook of food availability is very good. Cereal production for the 2009-2010consumption year shows that Malawi produced 3.6 million metric tons of Maize against a nationalrequirement of 2.4 million metric tones. This means that Malawi has 1.2 million metric tons maize

surplus. Last year’s surplus was 0.5 million metric tons.

The good crop production has been attributed to favorable weather conditions and increased input uptake

from the agricultural input subsidy programme.

Despite the good rains, three districts in southern Malawi namely: Chikwawa, Nsanje and Balaka

experienced some prolonged dry spells which caused local production deficits. These deficits have also

led to reduced access to seeds/planting materials for the households and according to FEWSNET Malawi

Food Security Outlook April to September 2009 report, these households will also require seeds to enable

winter and rain fed agriculture to take place.

The report indicated that some households in affected three districts will need support to access food

especially in the last 2 quarters of the year (December 2009- March 2010).

Summary of the food insecurity situation were as follows.

District Population No of Food Insecure

Households

% of the food insecure

households

Chikwawa 438,895 57,596 13.2

Nsanje 238,089 34,564 14.5

Mangochi 316,748 55,332 17.46

Total 993,732 147,493 14.8

It is of the above background that the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi, which is the relief

and developmental arm of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi developed a proposal in food aid and food

security to respond to the situation.

Project Overall Objective

Livelihoods of vulnerable households undermined by drought and floods improved in Nsanje and

Chikwawa Districts in Malawi

Project Specific Objectives

1. Improved food security of 1,000 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010

through access to food aid.

2. Improved crop production of 500 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010through access to seeds/planting materials

Project Expected Results



1. 1,000 food insecure households meet their immediate food requirement

2. 500 seed insecure households enhance their crop production through access to seeds/planting

materials.

3.0 PROJECT PROGRESS3.1 National Office

National Office has a number of key tasks that it had to perform in this project. Some of the notable tasks

include:

Networking and collaboration with the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, Malawi

Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) , Famine and Early Warning Systems Network

( FEWSNET) , Donor partners and other relevant stakeholders at the National level, District

Executive Committee ( DEC) at the District level.

Facilitating planning meeting of the project with Chikwawa Diocese

Monitoring project Implementation

Reporting to the donor partners and other stakeholders



Progress towards objectives-National Office

Specific Objective 1: Improved food security of 1,000 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to food aid

Planned Activity Implemented activity Achievements ( Impact) Challenges Lessons Learnt Comments

To conduct 1 planning meetingfor the project targeting 5Diocesan staff members

1 planning meeting wasconducted in ChikwawaCADECOM CentralOffice on 30th

November, 2009 withan attendance of twonational office staff and5 Chikwawa Diocesestaff

The planning meetingcame up with theimplementation plan and

beneficiary selection

criteria which haveresulted intoimplementation of the

project according to planwith the first distributionin December and thesecond in January as

planned. The project hastargeted the right

beneficiaries using the setselection criteria whichincluded food insecurehouseholds, thechronically ill, the orphanheaded households

Networking andcollaboration with other stakeholders at both

National and District

level is key in projectsof this nature as it hasresulted in do doubletargeting of the

beneficiaries asCADECOM wasallocated an impact areawithin its overall impactarea to implement the

project and no any other stakeholder was allowedto operate in the samearea

To conduct three networkingand collaboration meetings withstakeholders

3 networking andcollaborationmeeting/communicatio

n took place. Thedepartment of Disaster

Management Affairswas informed about the

project and was the onewho allocated the

Districts where the project should be

National Office hascontributed toimprovement of food

security situation of 1.000households through the

project. It has alsostrengthened its

networking andcollaboration and

increased the marketing of CADECOM work in

Networking andcollaboration results intotargeting the right

beneficiaries and impactarea. Beneficiary list and

reports have been sharedwith stakeholders at

National and districtlevel



implemented, while theDistrict Assembly

allocated the impactarea in the District

where the projectshould be implemented

CADECOM alsoshared the project with

MVAC and FEWSNET

as key partners in theassessment of foodsecurity andvulnerability in Malawi.Monthly reports have

been send to thedisaster department andother donor partnerswho were interested inthe project updates i.e.USAID ( Food For Peace)

Malawi which can informthe basis of advocacy and

lobbying

To procure 150 metric tonnes of maize,6000 litres of cooking oil,7.5 metric tonnes of corn soy

blend and 15 metric tonnes of beans ( pulses) for distribution

150 metric tonnes of maize, 6000 litres of cooking oil, 7.5 metric

tonnes of corn soy blend and 15 metrictonnes of beans were

procured from RabProcessors in earlyDecember, 2009. The

food items weresupplied and delivered

within the month whichsaw the first distribution

taking place during thelast week of December,

The supplied and procuredfood items has reducedthe food gap among

1,000 households as itenabled them to meet their immediate foodrequirement and improvetheir food securitysituation

Presence of internal procurement committee , procurement guidelines

and contract agreementsmade it possible to procure the food items professionally andwithin a short period of time( two weeks)

Samples of the foitems were sent Malawi Bureau

Standards (MBS) testing against the commodityspecifications.Results has shothat the meet the

specifications. Twas done bef

distribution of food to ensure saf

standards as outlin



2009 in the spheres proje

Specific Objective 2: Improved crop production of 500 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to

seeds/planting materials

Procurement of seeds/plantingmaterials (20 metric tonnes of sweet potatoes,1 metric tons of

sorghum, 1 metric tons of cowpeas

20 metric tines of sweet potato vines, 1 metrictons of sorghum seed

and 1 metric tons of cowpeas seed was

procured from Liwonde

Market ResourceCenter ( MACEFRANCHISE) and

distributed to 500households for plantingto respond to the seedinsecurity situation

The seeds/plantingmaterials once harvestedwill increase the crop

production and improvethe crop yield resulting in

improved livelihood and

food security of theselected households

With the change of rainfall pattern due to

effect of climatechange , farmers need to

engage seriously inwinter cropping / smallscale irrigation tomitigate the effect of dryspell which has hit theimpact areas and other five districts

Need to procanother seeds/planting

materials using savings from

material purch

budget line as crop stand of distribute crops is

promising due to dry spell and farmneed to re-plant in dambo to avoid looming hunger

To monitor implementation of the project ( food and seeddistribution and crop stand

1 monitoring visit wasconducted during thetwo months. It wasconducted in January,2010 during the seconddistribution. It wasconducted by the

National CADECOMSecretary, the NationalRelief Coordinator

The crop stand is vey pathetic and not promising. Even thedrought resistant crops i.e.Sorghum has succumbedto the dry spell and if farmers do not re-plant in

winter, hunger is looming.

Monitoring provided firsthand assessment on thecrop stand and foodsecurity situation in thearea

There is need for farmers not to depend onrain fed agriculture onlyas the year has seen fivedistricts being hit by thedry spell and crops beingwilted and dried.

Farmers need to re-plantin the dambos (winter cropping) if they have tomitigate the effects of dry spells due to climatechange.

For those farmerswithout irrigable land,

they need to diversifytheir income sources to

enable them purchase

National Offthrough CommunicationDepartment produa video documentof the visit which

been shared with

partner during submission of Interim Report of DRR.

Both electronic a print media attend

the event areported on the sa

Through the meCADECOM has b

able to market it w



the food and improvetheir livelihood

which will form bafor advocacy a

lobbying for accto food and seeds

the affechouseholds

To submit one interim report( narrative and financial) before

submission of end of project

report

1 interim report( narrative and financial

) has been compiled and

being submitted to the partner ( this one)which is in line with the

project agreement

The report provided andopportunity to track

progress of the

implementation in relationto the project document( proposal)

Reporting provide a basis for assessment of

progress of the project



CHIKWAWA DIOCESE

Chikwawa Diocese lies in the southern region Of Malawi. The Diocese is made of Chikwawa, Nsanje

and part of Thyolo District District. Chikwawa has a population of 438,895 while Nsanje has a

population of 238,089 (2008 population census report)

The beneficiaries were selected based on the following criteria:

• Food insecure households who have no food from their own production or from other sources

• Food Insecure HIV and AIDS infected and affected households

• Food insecure female headed households

• Food insecure child-headed households

• Food insecure orphan headed households

• Under five malnourished children

• Food insecure elderly headed households

• Households with access to land and willing to produce summer crop.

The following households were selected in the three impact areas:

District Parish T/A Number of Beneficiaries

Men Women Total

Nsanje Tengani Tengani 121 129 250

Kalemba Mbenje 88 162 250

Chikwawa Ngabu Ngabu and

Sub-Chief

Masache

181 319 500

Total 390 610 1,000

According to the developed implementation plan, the Diocese was tasked to do a number of activities in

the project to contribute to attainment of project objectives and overall goal.

Among the key activities were as follows:

To conduct sensitization at District Executive Committee ( DEC) in Chikwawa and Nsanje

Districts Conduct DEC Meeting

To conduct recruitment of temporary project staff ( food distribution Officers) to assist in the

execution of the project

To conduct sensitization meetings with the communities

To conduct actual distribution of food and seeds/planting materials

To conduct food distribution monitoring T o conduct capacity building of farmers in proper agronomic practices

To submit monthly reports to National Office

The project impact areas are as below:

District Parish T/A Villages

Nsanje Tengani Tengani Dodomeka, Chitsa, Sapatongwe,Mtondo, Kachere, Pangeti, Kazingizi

and Mangani

Kalemba Mbenje Sorjeni, Sikedi, GVH Anne, Mello,



Kachelenga and Kuyeli

Chikwawa Ngabu Ngabu and Nyambiro, Machado and Chingondo.

Ngabu Sub- Chief

Masache

Thenesi , Ndandika and Mtuwa

Picture 1:

Relief food items in the warehouse at Ngabu Parish, Chikwawa Diocese

Picture2:

Food Distribution Exercise to the food insecure households in Nsanje District

Picture 3:



Due to extreme hot weather, about 2% of the procured sweet potatoes vines got scotched with the sun

before they could be planted.



PROJECT PROGRESS TOWARDS OBJECTIVES-CHIKWAWA DIOCESE

Specific Objective 1: Improved food security of 1,000 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to food aid

Planned Activity Implemented Activity Achievement

( Impact)

Challenges Lesson Learnt Comments

To conduct 1 planningmeeting with the NationalOffice targeting 5 staff members

I planning meetingconducted , attended by 7staff members, two from the

National Office in

November, 2009

The planning meetingcame up with theimplementation planand beneficiary

selection criteriawhich have resultedinto implementation of

the project according to plan with the first

distribution inDecember and the

second in January as planned. The project

has targeted the right beneficiaries using theset selection criteriawhich included foodinsecure households,the chronically ill, theorphan headed

households

Networking andcollaboration with other stakeholders at both

National and District

level is key in projects of this nature as it hasresulted in do double

targeting of the beneficiaries as

CADECOM wasallocated an impact area

within its overall impactarea to implement the

project and no any other stakeholder was allowedto operate in the samearea

To sensitize DistrictExecutive Committeemembers on the project inChikwawa and NsanjeDistricts

Two DEC meetings wereconducted in Nsanje andChikwawa Districts Themeeting was also attendedthe District Disaster Protection Committee. Atotal of 59 people (54 menand 5 women )

CADECOM wasassigned to implementthe project in the sitewhere they areimpacting the currentDRR programme so asto have maximumimpact and sustain theactivities under theDRR

It lead to no doubletargeting of beneficiariesas all the stakeholders inthe two districts wereallocated areas wherethey have to operate if they have a project torespond to the foodinsecurity situation



To recruit six temporallystaff members to assist in the

execution of the project

Four food distributionofficers, 0ne food aid

monitor and 0ne warehousekeeper have been recruited

The project is beingimplemented as per the

developedimplementation plan

due to the presence of staff

Project of this nature( emergency ) need

already qualified staff asevidenced by the good

quality work of the staff members that have been

done

To sensitize 3 communities

from Chitsa, Dolo and Ngabu

on the project

3 communities sensitized on

the project interms of

objectives, time frame,targeting criteria, food

basket

Sensitization meetings

assisted in the targeting

of the right beneficiaries as thecommittee and local

leaders were aware of the criteria and applied

the same whenselecting 1,000 project

beneficiaries

Sensitisation helps the

target communities

understand the projectand targeting as per theset criteria a and

implement the activitiesas outlined in the project

document

To target 1,000 households to

benefit from the fooddistribution

Targeted a total of 1,000

households ( 310 men and690 women)

1,000 households have

reduced their foodrequirement gap andhave food reservesduring the criticalmonths (Dec-February). No reportsof malnutrition due to

food insecurity as previously reported

Provision aid ensures

food security in the nextseason as the targethouseholds are able toconcentrate in their cropfields rather than goingout for casual labour insearch of food. They

have also power to work effectively in their fields

To identify 1 warehouse tostock the food commoditiesduring the project life span

1 warehouse was identified by Ngabu Parish at a cost of MK10,000.00 per month

Identification of thewarehouse made it

possible to stock thefood items before beingtransported to finaldistribution centers for distribution to the

beneficiaries

Presence of DiocesanWarehouses is very keyas it lessen the storage

problems and reduce therental charges

To distribute food aid ( 100 Distributed 100 metric tons Food security of 1,000 Meeting food



metric tons of maize,4000litres of cooking oil,10 metric

tonnes of beans , 5 metrictonnes of corn soy blend

of maize,4000 litres of cooking oil,10 metric tonnes

of beans , 5 metric tonnes of corn soy blend

households hasimproved as their

immediate foodrequirement has been

met. No reports of malnutrition and going

out for casual laboursin search of food due

to provision of the

same by the project

requirement of the foodinsecure households

ensures active participation in the field

due to improved foodsecurity and this reduces

the occurrence of thesame scenario in the

subsequent years

Specific Objective 2: Improved crop production of 500 vulnerable households in Chikwawa Diocese by March 2010 through access to seeds/planting

materials

To conduct 3 sensitizationmeetings on the component of

access to seeds/plantingmaterials

3 sensitization meetingstargeting 3 communities

( Chitsa, Dolo and Ndandika) conducted .

Attended by 600 people( 250 men and 350 women)

The communities wereaware of the selection

criteria for the seed provision component

and the local leadersand the project

committee used theselection criteria tocome up with a list of

beneficiaries to benefitfrom the component

Sensitization enabled thelocal leaders and the

project committee tocome up with the right

beneficiaries through useof the set selection

criteria which includethose with land to plantthe seeds/plantingmaterials , those withenergy to produce andmanage the crop field

To target and register 500

households to benefit fromthe seeds/planting materials

500 households were

targeted, verified andregistered

500 households who

received theseeds/plantings have

been able to plant intheir fields and onceharvested willcontribute to anincrease in crop

production , foodsecurity and livelihood

Right targeting of

households ensures thatall the seeds/plantingmaterials is put into rightuse i.e. no selling of theseeds/planting materials

Distribution of 20 metrictonnes of sweet potatoes, 1

20 metric tons of sweet potatoes, 1 metric tons of

Once harvested in April2010, there will be

Procurement of theseeds/planting materials

Procurement anddistribution of the



metric tons of cowpeas and 1metric of sorghum and 2,502

kgs of OPV Maize

cowpeas and 1 metric of sorghum and 2,502 kgs

OPV Maize have beendistributed to 500

households

increased crop yieldand increased food

security throughaccessibility and

availability of the same

need to be done beforethe first rainfall to enable

the farmer’s plant withthe same. With change in

rainfall pattern , late planting of the seeds due

to ;late procurement isresulting in crop failure

due to a number of

factors which include dryspells

seeds/planting materialswas done in December,

2009 which was within th planting period, farmers

planted, however twoweeks after planting the

districts were hot by thedry spell and up to now

rains have not fallen to al

the parts. This is veryalarming as may result ianother food insecurity ahigh vulnerability in thenext season unlessfarmers re-plant in thedambo

To conduct training in proper agronomic practices for thedistributed seeds/plantingmaterials in collaborationwith the Ministry of Agriculture and FoodSecurity field staff at theDistrict level in the threeimpact areas

Three training sessionsconducted and some of thetopics covered were cropfield management and postharvest management, pestand disease control. A totalof 1251 (775 women and476 men ) have been trained

The trained people are practising proper agronomic practicesfor the crops and thiswill contribute toincreased yield due to

proper managementand increase the foodsecurity situation of the

participatinghouseholds

Capacity building of farmers in proper agronomic practices andother areas is importantas it enhances their capacity and enablesthem to increase the yieldthrough following

proper agronomic

practices



FOOD DISTRBUTION Table

The following are the quantities of food that were distributed to the three impact areas during December

2009 and January 2010 distributions

MONITORING AND LEARNING

The National Office took part in beneficiary verification and registration as well as during the second

food distribution exercise as part of its monitoring, facilitation role.

National Office has also conducted a field visit to the project sites to access the crop stand and the effects

of the dry spell. Preliminary findings are showing that there might be looming hunger next season if

framers do not engage in winter cropping and diversify their income sources. CADECOM has embarked

on winter cropping and currently farmers are busy preparing for the winter cropping in April.

The Diocese also took part in the monitoring of the project to ensure that the project activities are done

timely and objectively.

The CADECOM Secretary for Chikwawa Diocese took part in the following: Sensitization of DEC

members and Parish priests concerned, supervision of warehousing activities and food distribution

programme.

Name of

FDP

Beneficiaries Category

No. of

Depen

dents

Commodities Distributed

Men Wome

n

Total

Chroni

cally

ill

Elderl

y

person

s

Orpha

n Care

givers

Food

Insecure

HH

Maize

(Kgs

)

Pulses

(Kgs )

CSB

(Kgs )

Cook

oil

(Litre

Nyamithuth

u

87 162 249 83 21 51 94 1049 24,90

0

2490

1245

496

Magoti 121 129 250 70 16 47 117 557 25,000

2500

1250

500

Dolo 181 319 501 97 103 89 212 1405 50,10

0

5010 2505 1002

Total 389 610 1,00

0

250 139 187

423 3,010 100,

000

10,00

0

5000 1 99



COLLABORATION/ NETWORKING

During the programme several organizations and government rendered a lot of support for the

success of the project follows:

No. Organization Support Rendered

1.0 District Assemblies Facilitated DEC meetings and provided lists of names for

Government Food Aid beneficiaries.

2.0 Ministry of Agriculture and

Food Security

Gave support during beneficiary registration, verification

and seed distribution for the smooth registration process.

3.0 World Vision International Provision of lists of names for Government Food Aid

beneficiaries in collaboration with district Assemblies for

the smooth registration process.

4.0 River of Life Evangelical

Project

Provision of lists of names for Government Food Aid

beneficiaries in collaboration with district Assemblies.

5.0 Other NGOs Assisted in Food Aid Project location.

CHALLENGES/CONSRAINTS

The December 2009 to January 2010 dry spell that has affected over 121,000 households in

Malawi in which 15,000 households are beneficiaries of the program in the districts of

Chikwawa, Nsanje, Mulanje, Balaka and Mangochi. Over 72 hectares of land have their crops

wilted and if farmers do not replant and engage in winter cropping, there is danger of looming

hunger in the next six months.

Food insecurity situation of some beneficiary households- CADECOM with financial support

from Cordaid is assisting 1,000 households with relief food ( Maize, beans, cooking oil and

Likuni Phala) out the 275,000 households that are food insecure ( Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) 2009 food security update report)

KEY LESSONS LEARNT FROM IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT

Collaboration and networking avoid double targeting of households as beneficiary lists are shared

among all the stakeholders in the field of relief in the District.

Involvement of church authorities (parish priests) and local leaders in the project ensured timely

implementation of activities as these people are respected in the community.

Documents

Food Aid Progress Report for December 2009revsd Chikwawa