Malawi: Emergency Agriculture and Food Security Surveillance System (EmA-FSS) Bulletin, Issue 36: 16-31 October 2021

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

• The proportion of households relying on purchase as the main source of food at the household level was 37.0 percent, which is 27.1 percentage points lower than the 64.1 percent recorded same time last year and is slightly lower than 37.5 percent reported in the first half of October 2021. The southern region continued to record the highest proportion of households relying on purchase as the main source of food (49.5 percent down from 73.1 percent same time last year and is also lower than the 50.8 percent reported in the first half of October 2021).

• In households owning any type of livestock, the proportion of households reporting suspected livestock diseases was 20.4 percent, which is relatively lower than 21.0 percent recorded during the same period last year and is slightly lower than 20.5 percent recorded in the first half of October 2021. The southern region recorded the highest proportion of households reporting livestock diseases estimated at 24.5 percent which is similar to 24.6 percent reported in the in the first half of October 2021.

• The proportion of households involved in fishing related livelihoods activities was 2.6 percent, which is lower than the 3.3 percent recorded in the same time last year but higher than the 1.7 percent reported in the first half of October 2021. The northern region recorded the highest proportion of households involved in fishing related activities (6.0 percent up from 3.3 percent reported in the first half of October 2021). Households involved in fishing related activities reporting some suspected fish diseases dropped to 6.4 percent from 17.6 percent recorded same time last year and is also lower than the 24.6 percent reported in the first half of October 2021. The northern region continues to register the highest proportion of households reporting some suspected fish diseases but dropped from 54.5 percent in the first half of October 2021 to 7.9 percent.

• The average price of maize per kg was MK147.32 , which is lower than the MK185.59/kg reported same time last year. The average maize price is lower than the MK148.72/kg reported in the first half of October 2021. The southern region continued to record the highest average maize prices per kg at MK168.80, which is lower than the MK217.90/kg same time last year.

• Average crop prices per kg were MK751.50 up from MK693.58 for rice, MK906.10 up from MK759.51 for groundnuts, MK496.91 up from MK439.76 for Irish potatoes compared to same time last year.