WFP buys 35,926 tonnes Malawi white maize for Zimbabwe

The United Nations World Food Programme said on Wednesday it had bought 35,926 tonnes of white maize for Zimbabwe from Malawi as part of over 80,000 tonnes of food it purchased from Malawi to feed five countries.

"Food commodities have been bought from Malawi by WFP for operations in Liberia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe," said Mathews Nyirenda Senior Communications Officer at WFP Country office in Lilongwe.

Nyirenda told Reuters that in total close to $11 million had been spent on food from Malawi.

"The Food commodities include maize, corn soy blend and pulses, including beans, peas totalling of 88,363 metric tonnes of different commodities," Nyirenda said.

He said WFP paid $6.2 million for the maize bought from Zimbabwe, and forked out $69,046 for 437 tonnes of white maize destined for Mozambique.

WFP has also bought 28,618 tonnes of maize valued at $4.6 million from Malawi, to feed an estimated 1 million people said to be facing hunger in Malawi itself, the official said.

Malawi is enjoying a second consecutive bumper harvest after a two-year period of good rains and a successful implementation of a fertiliser and seed subsidy programme.

But it still has an estimated 1 million people that need food aid. This week, WFP also announced a three-year special plan to feed about 1.2 million Malawians in disaster prone areas and those affected by HIV/Aids.