ReliefWeb

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

• There are now more households turning to the markets to purchase food as the main source of food surpassing those who use own production. Currently, 53 percent of the households are relying on food purchases as the main source of food

• Households have slowly been resorting to adopting some negative coping mechanisms especially households in the southern region.

• Phalombe, Nkhotakota, Mulanje, Mangochi and Karonga districts recorded the highest proportion of households with over 25 percent of the households classified as phase 3 (or above) of reduced coping strategy, indicative of worsening food security in these districts. The districts with a high proportion of households classified in phase 3 are also districts that have higher proportion of households that rely on food purchase, indicating greater association between households’ main source of food and the proportion of households classified in phase 3.

• Access to livestock veterinary extension services continues to remain low across districts with approximately 23 percent of the households having access to the services in the week ending on 30 August 2020. This has increased by 3 percent compared with mid-August.

• The price of maize dropped by 1 percent in the week ending on 30 August 2020 compared with the week ending on 23 August 2020. The average price of maize in the week ending on 30 August 2020 was MK 171.70/kg, with the southern region recording the highest price at MK 185.30/kg and the central region recording the lowest price at MK 154.50/kg.