A Scottish charity has called for urgent help to support millions of people starving because of the worst drought in 100 years.
About 21million children across Southern Africa are currently malnourished after the worst drought in the last 100 years led to a third successive poor harvest in 2024.
Mary’s Meals is currently providing a lifeline to families in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe, four of the worst-affected countries in the region, by serving nutritious meals to around 1.5million children.
But the school feeding charity has called for urgent help to expand its programme and reach more hungry children with a meal in school.
It costs just 10p a day to feed a child with Mary’s Meals, which was the Express’s Christmas appeal in 2023.
Mary's Meals outlines the work they provide in Malawi
Angela Chipeta-Khonje, country director for Mary’s Meals Malawi, said: “Crops have been wiped out across the region, leaving people hungry long before the usual ‘lean’ months. The impact of the drought on food security is severe in a region where 70% of smallholder farmers rely on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihood.
“We estimate that in Malawi alone, 5.7million people are in food crisis. We provide a daily meal in school to more than one million of the most vulnerable children, giving them and their families the reassurance of accessing one vital meal a day. But we need to do more, and we need to act fast before this situation becomes a catastrophe.”
The most recent planting season has been a disaster with rains arriving several months late, leaving precious seeds to wither and die.
This means the forthcoming harvest is expected to be very poor.
Although there was some rain at the end of January, the growing season has been slashed and there is not enough time for crops to thrive.
Ms Chipeta-Khonje added: “Education is vital to the social and economic development of countries like Malawi.
“We need a well-educated population in order to develop. By offering a daily meal in a place of education, we are not just ensuring the children access vital nutrition, but we are encouraging them to learn. Learning on an empty stomach is almost impossible.”
Mary’s Meals, which started in the Scottish Highlands 23 years ago and still retains its global headquarters in the village of Dalmally, feeds more than 2.4million hungry children every school day in 16 of the world’s poorest countries.
The meals encourage children – who may have been working in the fields or begging on street corners – into the classroom and give them energy to learn.
This means, even in this most difficult of times, these children can make the most of their education and help break the generational cycle of poverty.
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