In Malawi, most smallholder farmers were preparing their fields for the April harvest when Cyclone Freddy, the longest and most energetic tropical storm ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, struck the country in mid-March.
The World Food Programme estimates that almost 2.3 million people in the agriculture sector have lost their crops and livestock and that over 179,000 hectares of crop fields have been destroyed.
Freddy also left 1.3 million people at risk of acute food insecurity and displaced almost 900,000 households across 500 temporary shelters set up across the country.
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About the author
Natalie Donback
Natalie Donback is a freelance journalist and editor based in Barcelona, where she covers climate change, global health, and the impact of technology on communities. Previously, she was an editor and reporter at Devex, covering aid and the humanitarian sector. She holds a bachelor’s degree in development studies from Lund University and a master’s in journalism from the University of Barcelona and Columbia Journalism School.
