12/10/2025
In late October 2025, the government of ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ โ under President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika โ declared a โstate of disasterโ for 11 of its 28 districts, responding to an assessment by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) that projected roughly 4 million people (around 22% of the population) would face acute food insecurity in the 2025/26 lean season (OctoberโMarch).
As conditions worsened, by mid-November the disaster declaration was extended to cover ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐, underlining the breadth of the crisis.
The causes combine ๐ฐ๐น๐ถ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ-๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐, which decimated rain-fed agriculture (upon which roughly 80% of Malawians depend), with surging commodity prices and macroeconomic stress โ a pattern consistent with region-wide climate shocks linked to changing rainfall patterns and possibly the broader effects of climate change.
On this , we invite you to learn more about why humanitarian supportโand specifically tools like the United Nations Global Emergency Response Fundโmatter for food systems, climate resilience, and the future of Africa: https://nthafoundation.org/mw-unocha-2025/
