As part of a visit to land-locked Malawi, Second Lady Jill Biden announced an additional $20 million in U.S. food assistance to offset the effects of drought that began in 2015 and was magnified by the El Niño weather pattern. An estimated 40 percent of the population of the country in southeastern Africa are in need of humanitarian aid.
The announcement raised the total of U.S. aid to $74.7 million through the UN World Food Program since October, when the food crisis began, said Biden. Malawi faces its worsts food security crist in decades, says the UN agency. The WFP is running projects that provide drought relief, school meals, and support for small farmers.
In a statement, the U.S. embassy said the United States employed a two-pronged approach of aid for immediate needs and support for local food production in the longer term. The majority of Malawians depend on agriculture for a living, says the WFP. “The population is highly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters such as annual dry spells and flooding.”
Biden’s motorcade was blocked by a student protest of higher college fees in Matawale, said the Nyasa Times. “The students burnt tires on the road blocking Biden’s motorcade from proceeding to Machinga,” said the newspaper, headlining the incident as a national embarrassment.