The Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM), a relief and development arm of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi (ECM) has launched a campaign against hunger whose main goal is to reduce the number of hungry and malnourished people and poor people on all continents.
Launching the campaign in Lilongwe on Monday, His Grace Archbishop Tarcizio Ziyaye of Lilongwe Archdiocese said the fight against hunger is premised on the ground that more than one billion people in the world live without adequate food and nutrition, which is detrimental to their dignity and rights.
Ziyaye said the church is also saddened to note, through the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) that close to 1.8 million people will miss their required food entitlements this year.
“The hundred and sixty four member organizations of the Caritas Internationalis operating in more than 200 countries and terrorities around the world, of which Cadecom is one, know that there is enough food in the world yet one person in eight does not get enough to eat every day,” said Ziyaye when he read out a statement ton the campaign to journalists.
He said currently, in some places in the country, the affected populations are relying on food aid response programs funded by government, the World Food Program (WFP), and donors as well as other non-governmental organisations such as GOs like Cadecom who are distributing food rations in the 21 affected districts.
His Grace Archbishop Ziyaye said folowing the launch of the campaign which will be on-going up until 2025, Cadecom has made call to mobilising the public for increased awareness on the right to food.
He said the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, as well as the fundamental right to be free from hunger.
“We desire to see a change in the world where there are reduced numbers of people without sufficient or nutritious food,” he said.
Ziyaye also noted that Malawi is endowed with enormous resources hence the need to take advantage of all the available resources such as land and water suited to food production.
On his part, Cadecom Program Coordinator Martin Mazinga said urged the need to intensify provision of modern agriculture services and technologies, including climate smart agriculture, as well as enhancing traditional soil conservation and fertilization methods in the country.
Mazinga lamented that most farmers are still adhere to traditional agriculture methods which he said reduce agriculture productivity.