Approximately 4 million people (22 percent of the analysed population) are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, classified as IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) between October 2025 and March 2026 – the lean season in Malawi. Of that total, 8,000 people are facing critical levels of acute food insecurity, IPC Phase 4 (Emergency), driven by high food prices, economic decline and below average agricultural production. Phase 4 is characterised by large food gaps and high levels of acute malnutrition. These people urgently require Immediate, life-saving assistance to prevent a catastrophe.
Most of the populations in Phase 3 or above are urban poor and low-income households in rural areas who are not able to produce enough of their own food and are dependent on crisis coping strategies to meet their food needs through market purchases. These strategies include harvesting immature crops, reducing expenses on essential health, and exchanging labour for food due to lack of resources or money to buy food. The situation is exacerbated by the persisting depreciate of the Malawian kwacha against major currencies, including the US dollar, Euro and the South African Rand, the high transportation cost and high food prices.