AEGiS-IFRC: HIV and AIDS worsens the food insecurity situation in Malawi

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

HIV and AIDS worsens the food insecurity situation in Malawi

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - December 14, 2005
Morning-Star Rosario, Namibia Red Cross Society

About 100 kilometers north east of Malawian capital city Lilongwe, lies a sandy poverty-stricken village called Salima. It is here that Morning-Star Rosario, the Namibia Red Cross Society meets Sellina Alusi. An almost fifty year unemployed widow and mother of four, who despite having clear symptoms of HIV/AIDS and getting constant rounds of different illnesses was still reluctant to go for an HIV/AIDS test. Alusi is also one of the 4.8 million people in Malawi affected by hunger as a result of severe drought and poor economic performance in Malawi.

"I have terrible malaria and I struggle to breathe. I also suffer from diarrhea and congestion and it is affecting my productivity in the field," says Alusi weaving her basket.

During good years, and when Alusi was in good health, she would harvest 30 to 40 bags of rice, but this year due to her bed-ridden situation and erratic agriculture season, she could not even harvest a single bag.

As one walks through Salima it is obvious that there is severe hunger. Fields are dry and abandoned and there were no signs of rain in the sky which may signal another difficult year for Malawi. The mango trees that used to be filled with fruits bear nothing now as the communities has eaten everything as the last resort. Reports in Salima show that mangoes were eaten raw sometimes peeled, boiled and eaten as porridge which they do not do in good times.

Malawi Red Cross volunteers and WFP have started distributing food to the 200 households of Salima targeting families with chronically ill patients and orphans. For the past nine months Alusi has been receiving 50 kg of maize, Soya and cooking oil on a monthly basis.

Alusi's second born daughter Hadja Ganizani is married and at 25 years old is heavily pregnant with her third child, yet because her mother is weak she walks long distances to fetch the heavy bags of food carrying it on her head and taking it home to the family. Hadja explains that, "the food is never enough to last us a month, we are a big family and therefore when the food gets finished we weave baskets to sell and raise money to buy more food and other necessities. It has become very difficult and unaffordable to get or buy food."

Asked if she is receiving any treatment, Alusi shows us little yellow pills and says, "I only go to the hospital when I get very ill, my daughter then hires a bicycle and takes me to the clinic about 20 km from here. The nurses only give me Fancida (a Malaria drug) but it does not help and that is why I have to complement it with traditional medicine."

Alusi has a 28 year old son that has gone to the city in an effort to find a job but has never returned home or assist the family in anyway. However what worries Alusi most is the future of her younger daughters aged 13 and 11. She fears she will not be able to afford their school fees and the girls will be forced to drop out of school at a young age.

It seems the situation in Malawi will only worsen if aid does not come now. Although the government is currently providing free Anti retroviral treatment, it can only be effective with a balanced which is currently a far cry from people like Alusi.

As more people fall ill, productivity decreases and poverty will increase. In October, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in southern Africa launched a food insecurity appeal of US30 million to support 1.5 million people in the seven most affected nations in this region which include Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, and Namibia, but Malawi still stands as the worst affected.

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