Malawi: Going Against the Grain On Subsidies

All Africa reports, "In each of the past three growing seasons, the family of Bernadette Banda, in Chidambo village in the central region of Malawi, has doubled the maize harvest from the family plot, thanks to a government input subsidy programme.

Subsidised hybrid maize seed and fertilisers have helped boost harvests and incomes at household level for more than 1.7 million farming families in Southern Africa's most densely populated country. Resource-poor smallholder farmers like the Bandas have demonstrated that subsidies -- opposed by international
donors such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- can overturn a food crisis if applied correctly.

In 2005, Malawi experienced a major famine where more than 5 million people needed food aid. Three years later, Malawi has dramatically moved from a serious food deficit to becoming a net food exporter, with the 2008 maize harvest of 2.6 million metric tonnes the highest on record."