Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further support they will provide to international institutions, non-governmental organisations or the government of Malawi in order to prevent the escalation of the humanitarian problems caused by the recent flooding in Malawi.

The UK has moved quickly to meet the immediate needs of those affected by the floods, and food supplies, water and sanitation, blankets and cooking utensils funded by the UK Government are getting through to affected households. We are also working to support communities to recover in the months to come, to allow displaced persons to return to their homes and rebuild their farms and their livelihoods. For example, we are providing funding to a consortium of NGO’s led by Concern Universal and to the Farmers’ Union of Malawi to enable them to distribute seeds and tools to help 54,000 smallholder farmers whose crops have been damaged by the floods. This funding will help ensure that as many as possible of those affected by the floods are still able to harvest crops this season, mitigating the threat of food insecurity. We have also provided funds to the World Food Programme, which will help feed 370,000 people affected by the floods and replenish the food stocks set aside for seasonal food insecurity.

The UK provides long-term support to Malawi to help build the resilience of communities against the threat of climate-related disasters, such as flooding and droughts. Our Enhancing Community Resilience Programme (ECRP) works with over a million vulnerable Malawians in eleven districts both to diversify their sources of income and prevent environmental degradation. With the help of this programme, some communities in flood-prone areas had already been supported to relocate their homes before the floods, and the programme had also installed flood early warning systems that were effective in saving lives. Our ECRP partners will be working in the coming months to help those farmers affected by the floods to rebuild their livelihoods.

We recognise the long-term challenges that climate change poses to Malawi. Over the next three years, the UK will use International Climate Fund resources to scale-up our efforts to enable vulnerable communities to be more resilient to climate shocks.