UNITED NATIONS, Rabi'II 09, 1436, January 29, 2015, SPA -- The U.N. agriculture agency said Wednesday that it is working closely with the Malawi government on a $16 million response plan aimed at protecting farmers from severe flooding. “Failure to respond promptly will have lasting consequences,” said Florence Rolle, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative to Malawi. “Flood-hit families risk harvesting nothing or very little this year, leaving them food insecure at the very outset of the agricultural season and undermining much of the progress being made in reducing food insecurity in Malawi.” FAO will work with the government to supply short-cycle varieties of maize, rice, sweet-potato, cowpeas, vegetable seeds, and cassava cuttings for urgent replanting. Flooding has caused displacement of over 170,000 people, while an estimated 116,000 households have lost their crops and livestock. --SPA 11:59 LOCAL TIME 08:59 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w