Africa-Press – Malawi. Ukraine war has pushed the cost of living in Malawi where the price of bread has doubled, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has found that half of Malawians are living on less than a dollar a day, a situation the organisation claims to have been exacerbated by the war.
WFP says the situation is pushing about 9 million of Malawians to the blink of hunger. WFP claims to have undertaken an analysis which established that cost of basic necessities like cooking oil has increased with over 300% within the 2 years of President Lazarus Chakwera’s administration.
The analysis shows that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has worsened the situation mostly in the Southern African country. WFP’s Global Spokesperson, Tomson Phiri says “WFP is seriously concerned about the souring food prices that are pushing poor to the blink of hunger in Malawi. WFP assessment has found that these challenges are now further exacerbated by the effect of the Ukraine crisis.
“Half of Malawians are already living in poverty, on less than US$2 (2 thousand Kwacha) a day. The price of bread has increased by 50 per cent in the last 3 months”.
Phiri claimes that the interviews the organisation held with bakery owners in Malawi established that the prices of wheat has nearly doubled since the onset of the Ukraine war.
The organisation claims that the removal of value added tax on some commodities has not curtailed the price increase. “WFP needs US$6.3 million (more than 6.3 billion Malawi Kwacha) to feed poor Malawians”
“We need US$2.9 million (about 3 billion Kwacha) now to be able to provide 22,500 families who were affected by floods with assistance. We also need an additional US$3.4 million (about 3.4 billion Kwacha) to continue providing vital food assistance to refugees and asylum seekers”, Phiri explained.
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