Malawi’s road to food security

Malawi President Mbingu wa Mutharika is a proud man.

While being the president of one of Africa’s poorest countries may not elicit pride, the head of state, who is also the country’s minister for agriculture, walks tall for achieving -- in just under three years -- what no other African head of state has done.

“My people are no longer hungry, they no longer queue for hours waiting for food rations; we can feed them for at least one year should food production fail due to circumstances beyond our control, such as drought and floods,” the president told the Sunday Nation in Lilongwe.

He added: “You cannot be proud if you cannot feed your family; everybody looks at you with pity.”

The road to Malawi’s food security is a study in determination and sacrifice at the highest level of government.

The journey started in 2005 when the landlocked country faced its worst food crisis after crops were destroyed by drought and floods in different parts of the country, forcing it to import 400,000 tonnes of maize.

The imports came in slowly because Malawi had to rely on South Africa’s road network, which is also used by Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Mr Jeff Luhanga, the officer in charge of agricultural extension at the ministry of agriculture, narrates with sadness how Malawians across the country would queue for days, only to walk away with a ration that would hardly last a week.

“It was sad watching people, hungry and emaciated, standing endlessly in the sweltering heat for just a can of grains,” he said.

The images on state television and splashed all over by the international media were too much for President Mutharika. He summoned Mr Luhanga and demanded to know why people who were hardworking, strong and had land could not feed themselves.

The answer astounded the president: “They cannot afford farm inputs, mainly hybrid seeds and fertilisers.”

Immediately Mr Mutharika decided that if all they needed was seeds and fertilisers to feed the country, the government would make them available. But the question was how?

The president sought the wisdom of donors, but they said an emphatic no. He was told his plan would not work.

But 15 years ago when farmers got subsidies, the country produced enough food.

What had changed? He formed a committee which, under his direct supervision, worked out a subsidy programme through which 1.5 million farmers would be supported by the government in a pilot scheme.

That year, not only did Malawi produce enough maize, it also collected twice as much, managed to export some and still offered food aid to its neighbours. “The results were simply shocking,” said Mr Luhanga.

“When in 2007 we repeated and sustained productivity, the very world that shunned us for defying its advice started talking.”

President Mutharika committed $50 million (Sh3.7 billion) to help farmers to obtain seeds and fertilisers. And in the first year, the country produced 1.3 million tonnes of maize, way above the national requirement.