MALAWI says that weather-related hazards coupled with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic would leave 15% of the population in need of food aid this season. The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee, a grouping of government, food experts and aid agencies, found that over 2.6 million people in the southern African country of 17.7 million would not be able to meet their food requirements during the 2020/21 consumption season. Impoverished Malawi is periodically hit by food shortages as it relies heavily on rain-fed agriculture and most of its maize is grown on small plots by subsistence farmers. Winford Masanjala, secretary for…