Dzaleka (Malawi): an exponential rise in food prices worries

In the Malawi’s Dzaleka camp, food supplies prices have gone up, doubled or even tripled with refugees sounding an alarm. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Refugees do not know why prices have exploded over the last three months.

1kg of maize flour which was bought at 700 MWK (Malawian kwacha) currently sells for 1400 MWK (0.81 USD), 1kg of beans went from 2000 to 4000 MWK (2.31 USD) while 1l of oil went from 1500 to 4000 MWK, as refugees deplore.

Refugees are requesting an increase in their monthly ration which 8,000 MWK (4.61 USD) per month each.

“It’s like giving you two kg of beans for a whole month. In any case, this is an unacceptable situation. And then, with this same amount, we have to satisfy all our daily needs, which is really not possible,” protests a Burundian refugee who has lived in Dzaleka for several years.

Refugees say the gap was normally filled by crop harvests. However, the drought or the prolonged and unexpected rainy season did not allow for good production.

They ask humanitarian agencies to consider saving lives in danger, especially children who are affected in large numbers by diseases such as kwashiorkor negatively affecting their growth.

The Dzaleka camp shelters more than 50,000 refugees, including more than 11,000 Burundians.