At least one person has died from cholera and 16 others have contracted the water-borne disease in Blantyre, Malawi's main commercial city, health authorities said on Tuesday.
All 17 cases were registered over the past week in Bangwe, one of Blantyre's crowded townships.
Chimota Phiri, the deputy district health officer, said the disease risked spreading further due to persistent water shortages that have hit the city as a result of breakdowns at the state-run water utility.
With no safe supply of water, many Malawians may resort to drinking water from unpurified wells. Cholera is an extreme diarrhoeal disease caused by contaminated water or food.
"We did not expect to record so many cholera cases now as the rainy season has not yet reached its peak and we fear the current water problems could worsen the situation," Phiri said.
Cholera spreads mostly during the rainy season due to floods contaminating water systems. At its most acute, the disease causes sudden watery diarrhoea that can lead to death by severe dehydration and kidney failure.
Prolonged water shortages in Blantyre last week prompted Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika to suspend the chief executive officer of the Blantyre Water Board pending an investigation.
The water board has blamed the problems on a faulty transformer.
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Seeding self-sufficiency
Fertilizer feeds success in an African nation
Growing corn in the United States became more profitable and efficient during the second half of the 20th century, due to a combination of government subsidies and research that improved seeds and fertilizers.
Some African nations could produce the same gains if the U.S. and other prosperous countries exported that recipe for success.
Although huge swaths of Africa are often considered hopeless, the experience in Malawi, a small landlocked nation, offers hope -- thanks largely to Bingu wa Mutharika, an economist who was elected president in 2004.
President Mutharika helped wean Malawi from its dependence on emergency food shipments from abroad. He pursued a policy that enables the government to help farmers obtain fertilizer, so they can then grow food to feed themselves, their nation and other parts of southern Africa.
The transformation was reported in Sunday's New York Times. Reporter Celia W. Dugger wrote that Malawi had "hovered for years on the brink of famine." But, this year, Malawi "is selling more corn to the World Food Program of the United Nations than any other country in southern Africa."
How did Malawi relieve acute child hunger and become an exporter?
"Farmers explain Malawi's extraordinary turnaround -- one with broad implications for hunger-fighting methods across Africa -- with one word: fertilizer."
For 20 years, the World Bank, the United States and Britain pushed Malawi's government to eliminate subsidies paid to farmers for fertilizer -- even though most farmers could not otherwise afford to improve their soil and nourish their crops.
Last year, under President Mutharika, farmers received coupons for seed and the cost of fertilizer was subsidized. The policy shift -- combined with the fact that Malawi had plentiful rainfall -- made for a bountiful corn harvest.
"As long as I'm president, I don't want to be going to other capitals begging for food," Mutharika told The Times reporter.
Despite being lectured by the U.S. and other governments to embrace free-market policies, Mutharika emulated American and European farm policies, which include subsidies and money for research.
Farm subsidies are difficult to eliminate once they're no longer required to meet basic demands for food. But subsidies are often necessary and can prove effective.
The experience in Malawi suggests that African farmers, given the same tools that their American counterparts want and need, are capable of feeding their nations and reducing their reliance on handouts.
Growing corn in the United States became more profitable and efficient during the second half of the 20th century, due to a combination of government subsidies and research that improved seeds and fertilizers.
Some African nations could produce the same gains if the U.S. and other prosperous countries exported that recipe for success.
Although huge swaths of Africa are often considered hopeless, the experience in Malawi, a small landlocked nation, offers hope -- thanks largely to Bingu wa Mutharika, an economist who was elected president in 2004.
President Mutharika helped wean Malawi from its dependence on emergency food shipments from abroad. He pursued a policy that enables the government to help farmers obtain fertilizer, so they can then grow food to feed themselves, their nation and other parts of southern Africa.
The transformation was reported in Sunday's New York Times. Reporter Celia W. Dugger wrote that Malawi had "hovered for years on the brink of famine." But, this year, Malawi "is selling more corn to the World Food Program of the United Nations than any other country in southern Africa."
How did Malawi relieve acute child hunger and become an exporter?
"Farmers explain Malawi's extraordinary turnaround -- one with broad implications for hunger-fighting methods across Africa -- with one word: fertilizer."
For 20 years, the World Bank, the United States and Britain pushed Malawi's government to eliminate subsidies paid to farmers for fertilizer -- even though most farmers could not otherwise afford to improve their soil and nourish their crops.
Last year, under President Mutharika, farmers received coupons for seed and the cost of fertilizer was subsidized. The policy shift -- combined with the fact that Malawi had plentiful rainfall -- made for a bountiful corn harvest.
"As long as I'm president, I don't want to be going to other capitals begging for food," Mutharika told The Times reporter.
Despite being lectured by the U.S. and other governments to embrace free-market policies, Mutharika emulated American and European farm policies, which include subsidies and money for research.
Farm subsidies are difficult to eliminate once they're no longer required to meet basic demands for food. But subsidies are often necessary and can prove effective.
The experience in Malawi suggests that African farmers, given the same tools that their American counterparts want and need, are capable of feeding their nations and reducing their reliance on handouts.
Sierra Leone: Teenagers in Salone, Malawi, Scotland Talk Development
Twenty-five children from the Government Secondary Technical School Friday discussed development issues with other children from Malawi and Scotland.
They did it without ever having to leave their country.
The more than 200 students participated in a videoconference organized by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) which was meant to allow them to exchange ideas live about development and issues affecting their lives.
In Scotland, the UK's secretary of state for development, Douglas Alexander and Sierra Leone's Foreign Affairs Minister Zainab Bangura witnessed the conference.
Bangura told the children of Sierra Leone that the future of Sierra Leone lies with them.
"No one can build Sierra Leone other than ourselves. I went to school without shoes; I came from a poor background. I was able to go to university. I went there with just five pieces of clothing, but I was determined, steadfast and committed - at the end of the day, we too can be like Scotland," she said, and encouraged the students to stay in school.
Michael Conteh, 14, one of the students from Sierra Leone, said he wanted to know whether the issue of child labour is as serious in Scotland as it is in Sierra Leone. "Our fellow teenagers are suffering in Sierra Leone. I hope and pray that the issue of child labour and trafficking will soon be eradicated." Conteh said he also wants to know about the standard of living in Scotland, which might not be the same in Sierra Leone.
DFID head of Programmes Rebecca Stringer said the conference is important in helping children know about other cultures.
She said the conference would also help the people in the UK to know more about what development means for people living in developing countries.
"The children in Freetown showed that they have a really sophisticated understanding of what development means, and I'm sure the children in Scotland learnt a lot from them."
They did it without ever having to leave their country.
The more than 200 students participated in a videoconference organized by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) which was meant to allow them to exchange ideas live about development and issues affecting their lives.
In Scotland, the UK's secretary of state for development, Douglas Alexander and Sierra Leone's Foreign Affairs Minister Zainab Bangura witnessed the conference.
Bangura told the children of Sierra Leone that the future of Sierra Leone lies with them.
"No one can build Sierra Leone other than ourselves. I went to school without shoes; I came from a poor background. I was able to go to university. I went there with just five pieces of clothing, but I was determined, steadfast and committed - at the end of the day, we too can be like Scotland," she said, and encouraged the students to stay in school.
Michael Conteh, 14, one of the students from Sierra Leone, said he wanted to know whether the issue of child labour is as serious in Scotland as it is in Sierra Leone. "Our fellow teenagers are suffering in Sierra Leone. I hope and pray that the issue of child labour and trafficking will soon be eradicated." Conteh said he also wants to know about the standard of living in Scotland, which might not be the same in Sierra Leone.
DFID head of Programmes Rebecca Stringer said the conference is important in helping children know about other cultures.
She said the conference would also help the people in the UK to know more about what development means for people living in developing countries.
"The children in Freetown showed that they have a really sophisticated understanding of what development means, and I'm sure the children in Scotland learnt a lot from them."
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