COVID-19 RAPID RESPONSE EUROPEAN UNION EMERGENCY AGRICULTURE FOOD SURVILLIENCE SYSTEM - EMA-FSS [May/June 2020 Highlights] Evidence Based Decision Support in Emergency Situation through Provision of Data and Information MAIN SOURCE OF FOOD The main source of food at the household level has re- Map 1: Percentage of Households relying on Purchase as the Main Source of Food MAY 2020 JUNE 2020 mained own production in both months (May & June 2020) and this may be attributed to the fact that the main har- vesting season of the main cereals in the country is in the months of April and May. However, there has been a 10% drop in the proportion of +10.40% households relying on own production from 72% in May 2020 to 62% in June 2020. In the same period, the propor- tion of households relying on purchase as the main source of food increased by 10% from 25% in May 2020 to 36 % in % of HHs relying June 2020. on Purchase Chikwawa, Mulanje and Phalombe districts all in the South- ern Region recorded the highest proportion of households 25.3% 36.6% relying on purchase as the main source of food. Table 1: Proportion of Households relying on Purchase as the Main Source of Food On the other hand, Chitipa and Mzimba districts in the north and Dedza and Ntcheu district in the central recorded the lowest proportion of households relying on purchase as the main source of food and hence, their main source of food remained own production. Mulanje, Zomba, Phalombe districts from the southern re- gion and Salima district from central region of Malawi rec- orded the highest increment in the proportion of house- holds relying on purchase as the main source of food when comparing May and June 2020 results. Overall, districts in the Southern Region have recorded the highest increment in the proportion of households relying on purchase as the main source of household food LIVESTOCK OWNERSHIP Approximately, 56% of the households owned some type of one or more types of livestock in June and this is a 4% drop from the 60% estimated in the month of May. Mzimba, Chitipa and Nkhata Bay districts from the northern region recorded the high- est proportion of households who owned one or more types of livestock, while Nkhotakota district from central region and Mangochi and Chikwawa districts from the southern region recorded the lowest proportion of households that own some type of livestock. Worth to note is that districts in the Northern Region have higher ownership of livestock compared with the other districts (Figure 1) EmA- FSS [May/June 2020 Highlights] COVID-19 RAPID RESPONSE LIVESTOCK DISEASE PREVALENCE Figure 1: Proportion of Households that Own any Type of Livestock Among the households which reported ownership of any type of livestock, 21% reported suspected livestock diseases with no change when compared with May when the same proportion was reported. In the month of June, the most suspected livestock disease was Newcastle disease reported by 36% of households up from 31% reported in May 2020. Worth to note is that the proportion of households reporting Mange Disease has increased from 5% in May 2020 to 15% in June 2020. In the month of June 2020, access to livestock veterinary services remained low with only 18% of households reported having accessed the services and no major variation was recorded when compared with May 2020 findings. Mwanza district from the South, Nkhata Bay district in the North and Kasungu district from the North recorded the highest proportion of households with access to livestock veterinary services estimated at 35%, 27% and 24% respectively. ACCESS TO FARM INPUTS In the month under review, 46% of the households had access to various farm inputs and no significant change was recorded when compared with May 2020 when access to farm inputs was estimated at 45%.The most accessed farm inputs in the period under consideration were storage equipment (50 %), seeds (36%) and grain preservatives (25%). In the month of June 2020, Chitipa and Mzimba districts from the north and Dedza district from the central had the highest access to various farm inputs estimated at 84%, 65% and 67% respectively. Table 2: Proportion of Households with Access to Various Farm Inputs Map 2: Percentage of Households with Access to Various Farm Inputs MAY 2020 JUNE 2020 +1.1% % of HHs Access to various Farm Inputs 44.7% 45.9% COPING STRATEGY INDEX Approximately 23% of the households were classified in Phase 2 of the reduced Coping Strategy (rCSI) which is a 3% increment when compared with May when it was estimated at 20%. This is an indication that nearly 2.4% of households classified in Phase 1 in May have fallen to Phase 2 indicative to increasing adoption of negative coping mechanisms. In the same period, the proportion of households classified in Phase 3 has recorded a slight increment from 12.9% in May to 13.2% in June 2020. At the district level, Nkhotakota district recorded the highest proportion of households classified in Phase 3 at 31% followed by Chikwawa district at nearly the same 30.7%. Other districts which recorded more than 20% of households in Phase 3 include Phalombe (28%), Karonga (21%) and Mulanje (21%). Overall, districts in the Southern Region recorded the highest proportion of households classified in Phase 3. EmA- FSS [May/June 2020 Highlights] COVID-19 RAPID RESPONSE PROPORTION OF HOUSEHOLDS CLASSIFIED IN PHASE 2 AND 3 OF REDUCED COPING STRATEGY INDEX % of HHs in Phase 2 of the Reduced Coping Strategy (rCSI) % of HHs in Phase 2 of the Reduced Coping Strategy (rCSI) MAY 2020 JUNE 2020 MAY 2020 JUNE 2020 +2.4% +0.3% 20.3% 22.7% 12.9% 13.2% % of HHs in Phase 2 or 3 of Reduced Coping Strategy (rCSI) Map 3: District Variation of Proportion of HHs Classified in Phase 2 and 3 of Reduced Coping Strategy Index MARKET FUNCTIONALITY AND MAIZE PRICES Table 4: Average Price of Maize in Malawi Kwacha per Kilogram The markets sampled have remained functional and operational within the period under review, with the proportion of operation- al markets ranging between 98 and 100 percent indicative of near universal functionality. Furthermore, availability of various crop produces has been on a steady increment. In June, 82% of the sampled markets had maize being sold, an increase from 77% in May. In the same period, availability of groundnuts increased from 68% in May to 73% in June. At the district level, Nkhotakota district recorded the highest price of maize per kg estimated at MK 210.77/kg , while Kasungu district recorded the lowest price of MK 125.89/kg. Comparing May and June 2020, the highest increment was recorded in Mchinji district followed by Nkhotakota district; while the highest drop was recorded in Chitipa district (Table 4) Map 4: District Variation Average Price of Maize in Malawi Kwacha per Kilogram MAY 2020 JUNE 2020 +3% The average price of Maize in the month of June was estimated at MK 162.92/kg which is a 3 percent increase compared with the month of May 2020. Additionally, this is a 15 percent drop compared with the same period in 2019 when the average price was estimated at MK 192/kg. Maize Price per KG 158.57 162.92 For Further Information Contact: MoAFS : (PS MoAFS: [email protected] or Acting Director, DAPS: [email protected]) FAO: (FAOR: [email protected] or Deputy FAOR: [email protected]) .