WFP appeals for $48M in food aid for Malawi; Britain gives $4.7M

Aug 16 2012

"The U.N.'s World Food Programme [WFP] said Tuesday it needs $48 million in food aid for about 11 percent of Malawi's population who will face hunger due to bad crops," Agence France-Presse reports. "'It is estimated that those needing food assistance in the southern African country will rise to 1.6 million people during the peak of the lean season early next year,' the WFP said in a joint statement with Britain's Department for International Development (DFID)," the news service writes.

"Britain is the first donor to bankroll the program, contributing $4.7 million," according to AFP (8/14). "Britain's contribution takes the total international aid for Malawi's new government to more than $500 million," Reuters notes, adding, "The International Monetary Fund approved a $156.2 million loan in July to boost economic growth, while the United States restored a $350 million aid program to overhaul Malawi's decrepit electricity grid in June." The news service writes, "The British funds will help about 715,000 people," according to DFID and the WFP (Blantyre, 8/14).