President Peter Mutharika of Malawi, in southeastern Africa, sparked outrage after pronouncing at a rally: “Why should Malawians die with hunger when we have different things to eat?

“You should be eating mice, grasshoppers as well as cassava.”

He also told civil servants to “stop demanding from my government to raise your salary, because it is doing its best to give you a conducive environment - what you should do is to work hard on your own”.

Malawi is currently in the grips of a food crisis following drought and the president declared a state of national crisis earlier this year.

According to local media, President Mutharika’s government colleagues have defended his remarks as a joke.

Patricia Kaliati, the information minister, said: “The president has a right to joke when he is interacting with his people.”

Other African media outlets have pointed out some species of Malawian mice can transmit Lassa virus, which causes about 5,000 deaths each year.