The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group Board of Directors has approved a US $17 million (about MK 12.2 billion) Food Crisis Response Budget Support Programme grant for Malawi. The Programme will support Malawi Government's Emergency Response Plan to mitigate the current food crisis through the purchase of maize for distribution to vulnerable households.

The grant will enable the Government, through the National Food Reserve Agency, to procure 36,000 metric tons of maize from international sources, as well as from local suppliers. It is estimated that the Programme will benefit more than 700,000 food insecure people, most of whom are women and vulnerable children. The resources will help the country to achieve short term-food security at the household and national levels, as well engender economic stability.

Speaking in Lilongwe, the AfDB Resident Representative, Andrew Mwaba, said that this support was in line with the commitments by AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina when he visited Malawi in April 2016, within the context of the Bank's US $550-million relief package from various AfDB windows and financial instruments in support of 14 countries severely affected by the drought in Eastern and Southern Africa due to the El Niño weather-related hazards in 2015-2016.

The Bank provided a grant of US $ 1 million in emergency food relief in June 2016, which was used to purchase 2,600 metric tons of maize distributed to beneficiaries.