Poor harvests, drought and the effect of Aids left 16 million people in need of food aid in Southern Africa last year.

Claire found hope in the DEC's work

To find out how our aid money is being spent, the actress Claire Sweeney went to Malawi.

She filed three special reports for Breakfast, and answered your emails in a live interactive forum.

Using this page, you can access each day's reports, from BBC Breakfast:

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The Aids Crisis
On Wednesday, Claire reported on Malawi's Aids crisis.

Click here to watch Claire's first film, on the Aids crisis in Malawi

or, click here for the full text of her report

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Famine
On Thursday, she looked at continuing efforts to tackle food shortages in Malawi

Click here to see Claire Sweeney's film on famine in Malawi

or click here for the full text of her report

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Children
And on Friday she found hope for the next generation, in a remote children's hospital.

click here to watch Claire's final report

click here for the full text of her report from the Mchinji children's hospital