Updated Friday 25 November 2005

WFP's web editor Chris Endean sent this report from Malawi, where a hunger crisis looms. This story first appeared on the Guardian Unlimited website.

RUNNING A FARM IN MALAWI

Nsanje is the last place in Malawi that you would want to inherit a farm: deep in the south, it is one of the hottest places in the country. It was 45C (113F) in the shade on the day we visited.

Yet when Lucy’s sister died of AIDS two years ago, she was left more than a hectare of stony soil. The 22-year-old also inherited her sister’s disabled husband, seven young children, a goat and two ducks. The couple have since had three more children.