The programme targets about four million households projected by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) to face severe hunger between October 2025 and March 2026. But with a K71 billion hole in the budget, the promise sounds more like hope than a plan. In October 2025, President Peter Mutharika declared a State of Disaster in 11 districts, acknowledging the scale of the crisis. Yet four months later, government is still counting deficits, still appealing to donors, and still distributing emergency maize in community halls. For many Malawians, the real disaster is not just hunger — it is the endless cycle of declarations, appeals, shortfalls and excuses.