The Catholic charity Mary’s Meals has launched an urgent appeal in an effort to help lessen the devastating impact of the country’s food crisis.
Food insecurity has been an issue in Southern Africa for several years but with recent flooding in the region, many of the crops Malawians rely on have been destroyed. The Malawian government estimates that 8 million people – half the country’s population – will require food aid by the end of 2016.
Mary’s Meals reports that the situation in Malawi is so bad that many families are facing starvation and a state of national emergency has been declared.
The charity - which was founded in Scotland in 2002 – currently provides more than 800,000 Malawian schoolchildren a balanced lunch in order to provide an incentive to help keep young people in education.
With the launch of the Crisis in Malawi appeal this week, Mary’s Meals hopes to continue its work in the region and extend their reach to as many schoolchildren as possible across the country.
The charity’s founder - Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow - visited the African country this week. He said in a statement: “We are determined to maintain that promise to the hundreds of thousands of children already benefitting and to find a way to reach even more schools in the worst-affected areas. On behalf of all those families I met, I want to thank with all my heart those who are supporting our mission at this time of very great need.”
Mary’s Meals feeds 1.1 million schoolchildren across four continents every day. The cost of feeding one child for a whole school year is just £12.20 ($19.50). More information can be found here.
