Tens of thousands of people in southern Africa are likely to die from starvation over the coming months before there will be an adequate response to the crisis by the international community. So far 10,000 have died.
The Minister of State for Overseas Development, Mr Tom Kitt, conceded as much yesterday when he visited a supplementary feeding station at Mponela, some 75 km north of Malawi's capital.
There, he saw hundreds of women in multi-coloured chitenje shawls and babies strapped to their breasts queueing patiently, if chaotically, to have their hungry children assessed by Concern workers and local volunteers.
It was the first day of a nutritional assessment programme at the Irish agency's feeding station and most of the women had walked up to 10 km in the hot winter sun to Mpolela, many of them barefoot.
Alison McLoughlin, a nutritionist from Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, was measuring the circumference of the babies' limbs to see whether they were swelling from oedema, a sure sign of severe malnutrition.
She was pleased to discover that most of them were merely hungry rather than starving. Many of the babies were crying inconsolably as they were measured and then weighed, their thin arms and legs testament to their suffering.
The mothers of those most in need were given five kilos of lukini phala, a nutritional supplement containing a blend of corn and soya, fortified with folic acid, vitamin A and vegetable oil, before facing the long trek home.
In the windowless brick-built hut, where an almost endless succession of women sat with their babies on concrete benches, the smell of poverty was palpable. But they had nowhere else to go, having run short of even the most basic food.
Mr Kitt remarked on their dignity and patience in such conditions and pledged to bear witness to what he saw here in Malawi when he travels to the Johannesburg summit at the weekend.
For him, it was "an upsetting, humbling experience", and he said he would be pressing his EU colleagues about the urgency of this incipient famine, adding that Ireland would be increasing its aid to the stricken region.
He pointed out that the Government had provided an extra €2 million over the past six months in funding for Malawi through Concern, Goal and the World Food Programme, "and you can take it that we will be increasing it further".
Since July 1st, the WFP has been appealing to donor countries to provide €600 million in emergency aid for southern Africa. To date, it has received just over a quarter of that sum.
Saying he was fearful about the future, Mr Kitt said it was clear that 'the hunger affecting 13 million people in six countries throughout the region was likely to get worse "unless there is a huge international effort to deal with this crisis".
"Ireland is doing its best. On a per capita basis, we're providing more assistance to this region than any other country - a total of €82 million for everything, including emergency relief and ongoing development aid," he declared.
