5th Malawi Emergency Agriculture and Food Security Surveillance System (EmA-FSS) Bulletin: Issue 5: (22–28 June and 29 June – 5 July 2020)

KEY HIGHLIGHTS: 

• Nearly half of the sampled households in the Southern Region are relying on purchase as the main source of food, and this is a significant increment when compared with the first week of May 2020 when the same was estimated as 27 percent. 
• The proportion of households classified in Phase 1 of food security based on the reduced Coping Strategy Index has been on a downward, decreasing from 70 percent in mid-May to the current estimate of 63 percent; while those in Phase 2 (alert phase) increased from 17 percent to 23 percent in the same period. 
• Households have slowly been adopting some negative coping mechanisms especially households in the Southern Region. Nearly, 30 percent of households in Phalombe, Chikwawa, and Mulanje districts and Nkhotakota district in the central region are classified in Phase 3 of Reduced Coping Strategy - a clear indication of worsening food security at household level.
• Access to livestock veterinary services continue to be a challenge with only about 15 percent of interviewed households owning livestock reported having access to the services; and there is need for the Department of Livestock and partners to develop a strategy to improve access to livestock veterinary services. 
• The average price of maize in the week ending, 05 July 2020 was estimated at MK166.07 per kilogram (kg). Comparing with the first week of June, a two percent increase was observed in the average price of maize from MK162.89/kg to MK166.07/kg. Districts in the Southern Region continue to record higher prices while districts in the Central Region continue to record lower prices.