Delivering school meals in flood-affected Malawi

The impact of prolonged rains in Malawi is being felt far beyond flooded roads and damaged homes. For some children, it also means losing access to school – and the daily meal that comeswith it. In the face of these challenges, staff of Mary’s Meals Malawi are doing everything they can to support the children who rely on our daily school meals.

Malawi is once again grappling with the devastating impact of heavy rains that have swept across the country in recent weeks, leaving a trail of destruction, displacement, and disruption to critical services.

Reports from local media indicate that the rains have affected many parts of the country, with Malawi’s southern region bearing the brunt. There has been widespread flooding, leaving thousands of households affected, infrastructure severely damaged, vital crops destroyed, and entire communities cut off.

Schools have also been affected, with some forced to suspend classes as conditions worsen, interrupting both education and access to essential services. Many already fragile roads are now waterlogged or completely impassable because of mud.

Among the affected areas are communities where Mary’s Meals Malawi provides vital meals to children every school day. The ongoing rains not only present significant logistical challenges for the team but they are directly affecting the delivery of these daily meals.  

In Zomba, a mudslide from Ndangopuma Mountain destroyed part of a key access road, cutting off movement for nearby residents. Lydia Suwali, a Mary’s Meals Malawi School Feeding Officer for Zomba District says: “The mudslide happened about 500 metres from where I stay. It damaged the road I use.”

In Chikwawa District, one of the worst-affected areas, flooding has forced the temporary closure of Sekeni Primary School in Nchalo. As a result, children who are counting on their daily meal provided at school were left without this vital support.

Even in areas where schools remain open, access challenges are making the delivery of essential food items for the Mary’s Meals school feeding programme increasingly difficult. In Blantyre Rural, roads became nearly impassable, but so valued are the daily school meals there that the community stepped in to ensure the food could be delivered. When a Mary’s Meals Malawi School Feeding Officer was unable to get the corn and soya blend porridge to a particularly hard-to-reach school, members of the local community carried the supplies to the school on foot.

Beyond the physical damage, the rains are intensifying humanitarian risks by disrupting livelihoods and heightening concerns over food insecurity and disease outbreaks. With many households in Malawi already vulnerable to hunger and poverty – there are 6.8 million people in Malawi with insufficient food consumption – the loss of crops, restricted mobility, and damaged infrastructure place additional strain. These circumstances make the provision of daily school meals even more important. 

With heavy rains persisting, the situation remains uncertain. For Mary’s Meals Malawi, the priority is clear: to continue supporting children with daily school meals while adapting to rapidly changing conditions. We have an incredible team on the ground in Malawi, who will do everything in their power to ensure children can access the school meals they need. 

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