Overflooding and poor rainfall affecting ELCM feeding centers
By:Sometimes Khama Kalilangwe
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi (ELCM) revealed that Malawi will in the coming year experience food shortages in its Feeding Centers following the poor rains in the last growing season.
Mrs Agnes Ndalama, the Women Coordinator of ELCM, after monitoring ELCM feeding Centers said on behalf of the Diakonia Director that the flooding and dry spell that occurred in the growing season of 2014/2015 affected crop production which will result in food shortage.
“Regardless of poverty in the country, this year things are worse in the provision of food in all the feeding centers due to poor rainfall in the previous rain season. Even though the food that we give them is little but with the little that they get from their own harvest plays a lot in feeding these children. Early ending of rain season in other areas, flooding, and low rainfall has made our income generating activities low this year as the country mainly depends on agriculture.” Mrs Agnes Ndalama explained.
She further indicated that flooding in the southern part of the country has greatly challenged the operation of these feeding centers as some of them lost even the kitchen utensils that were used in their feeding centers.
“On top of the food shortage, the feeding centers in the south were affected by heavy rain that led to flooding where by some kitchen utensils in other feeding centers were washed away. This creates a great need of supplying them with some resources on top of food.” She concluded.
Speaking with ELCM Information Desk, Atupele Nyakaundi, Feeding Assistant at Kabale feeding center in Karonga Deanery corroborated with the Mrs Ndalama that the Feeding Centers in the area will be at high shortage of food due to low rain in last season as they depend mainly on rice that demand high rainfall.
“This year rainfall has been little such that we have failed to harvest enough rice since this crop prefers high rainfall. This means that our feeding centers will also be affected as there will be no food for our kids.” Atupele Nyakaundi explained.
The same challenge is also encountered in the central region where rain stopped very early whereby farmers failed to harvest enough to support their families as well as feeding centers in their areas.
However the challenge in the southern region seems to be the same but with a different cause since they experienced heavy rains that destroyed the crops leaving the area with no harvest.
According to the Acting Dean of Zomba Deanery, Rev.Sinos Chimwaye confirmed that the heavy rains that hit the area left most of its feeding centers with little or no food except that donated by the church to the floods victims.
“We experienced heavy rains last season that has led to little food supply to our feeding centers as all the crops were washed away. As of now we are just surviving from what ELCM donated to us some three months ago. This means that these feeding centers will not perform like in the past” Rev.Sinos Chimwaye said.
ELCM has over 30 feeding centers in all its deaneries with excluding Chitipa Deanery. ELCM supports over 1500 kids every year.
By:Sometimes Khama Kalilangwe
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi (ELCM) revealed that Malawi will in the coming year experience food shortages in its Feeding Centers following the poor rains in the last growing season.
Mrs Agnes Ndalama, the Women Coordinator of ELCM, after monitoring ELCM feeding Centers said on behalf of the Diakonia Director that the flooding and dry spell that occurred in the growing season of 2014/2015 affected crop production which will result in food shortage.
“Regardless of poverty in the country, this year things are worse in the provision of food in all the feeding centers due to poor rainfall in the previous rain season. Even though the food that we give them is little but with the little that they get from their own harvest plays a lot in feeding these children. Early ending of rain season in other areas, flooding, and low rainfall has made our income generating activities low this year as the country mainly depends on agriculture.” Mrs Agnes Ndalama explained.
She further indicated that flooding in the southern part of the country has greatly challenged the operation of these feeding centers as some of them lost even the kitchen utensils that were used in their feeding centers.
“On top of the food shortage, the feeding centers in the south were affected by heavy rain that led to flooding where by some kitchen utensils in other feeding centers were washed away. This creates a great need of supplying them with some resources on top of food.” She concluded.
Speaking with ELCM Information Desk, Atupele Nyakaundi, Feeding Assistant at Kabale feeding center in Karonga Deanery corroborated with the Mrs Ndalama that the Feeding Centers in the area will be at high shortage of food due to low rain in last season as they depend mainly on rice that demand high rainfall.
“This year rainfall has been little such that we have failed to harvest enough rice since this crop prefers high rainfall. This means that our feeding centers will also be affected as there will be no food for our kids.” Atupele Nyakaundi explained.
The same challenge is also encountered in the central region where rain stopped very early whereby farmers failed to harvest enough to support their families as well as feeding centers in their areas.
However the challenge in the southern region seems to be the same but with a different cause since they experienced heavy rains that destroyed the crops leaving the area with no harvest.
According to the Acting Dean of Zomba Deanery, Rev.Sinos Chimwaye confirmed that the heavy rains that hit the area left most of its feeding centers with little or no food except that donated by the church to the floods victims.
“We experienced heavy rains last season that has led to little food supply to our feeding centers as all the crops were washed away. As of now we are just surviving from what ELCM donated to us some three months ago. This means that these feeding centers will not perform like in the past” Rev.Sinos Chimwaye said.
ELCM has over 30 feeding centers in all its deaneries with excluding Chitipa Deanery. ELCM supports over 1500 kids every year.