The study assesses community perceptions of emergency response modality (cash and food aid) on development: a case study of Traditional Authority Lundu in Chikwawa district, Malawi. This is based on the top down approach which is mostly common in humanitarian aid, where practitioners perceive this to be the right mode of aid delivery to affected communities. This research has used mixed methods of research designs. Participants were purposively and randomly sampled and 193 household heads, 2 focus group discussions and 10 key informants were interviewed. The results revealed that food aid is the best response modality in the area. Humanitarian aid enhances community development as it eliminates negative coping mechanisms. Food aid helps to stabilize commodity prices, improve health status of affected people and promote continuation of development intervention in the area. The study recommends that a thorough assessment is required to derive at a response option and resilient interventions that should be included in humanitarian response. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)