Malawi is overall food secure, except for the lower Shire region in the south where food security is moderate due to poor harvests since 2008. Approximately 33 percent of households have been affected by this crop failure (FEWSNET 2009). Malawi has also been impacted by global food price hikes. However, informal imports of maize flowing into southern Malawi from northern Mozambique have cushioned the domestic increase in prices.