MORE than £8 million in emergency support will be given to Malawi as the country battles a food crisis caused by the worst drought in 35 years.
A state of emergency was declared in the landlocked nation in April after it became clear that crops in almost half of areas were under threat from lack of rain.
It is now on the brink of famine with more than 6.5 million people unable to get enough food to eat – more than the entire population of Scotland.
The UK has now pledged £8.1m in new funding to help meet the desperate need.
International Development Minister James Wharton, who made his first visit to the country this week, said the Department for International Development is working with Scottish charities including Mary’s Meals, which provides daily porridge to schoolchildren, and Christian organisation SCIAF, which helps women farmers, to alleviate the crisis.
Wharton said: “Widespread drought means millions of people across Africa are being forced to go without vital food or clean water, while others have lost their homes and livelihoods due to severe flooding.
“Scotland can be proud of its role in our response. Scottish NGO’s such as SCIAF and Mary’s Meals are playing a vital role in the UK Government’s work to prevent and prepare for the impact of El Nino by providing lifesaving food, water and shelter to people in urgent need.”
The new support will provide maize vouchers to 760,000 people identified as in urgent need of food.
One of the world’s 10 poorest countries, Malawi, known as the “warm heart of Africa”, is heavily reliant on subsistence farming, which 85 per cent of people depend on for their livelihoods.
However, agriculture there is reliant on rain and changing weather patterns, including fluctuations caused by El Nino weather patterns, have contributed to food insecurity.
Last month Oxfam Scotland’s Jamie Livingstone told how the people are “in basic survival mode” with a rise in the illegal sale of charcoal, dangerous small-scale mining activities and prostitution, with women swapping sex for food.
He said: “The need for more resources and support is urgent if we are to break these toxic cycles.”
The UK has given a total of £43.1m to deal with the humanitarian crisis so far, including nutritional screening of more than 800,000 children and the treatment of around 100,000 children, pregnant women and new mothers and vulnerable adults suffering from malnutrition.
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