Received by email from anglican-information.org:
At last some common sense emerges in the Diocese of Lake Malawi:
Unfortunately, it is not as a result of wise episcopal leadership, but as a result of a Court Injunction granted earlier today. The Injunction stops the forced elections for a Bishop of Lake Malawi Diocese, hastily called by acting Dean of the Province of Central Africa, Bishop Albert Chama and scheduled to take place in far-off Malosa in the Diocese of Upper Shire on 16th February.
It is ironic that it is a civil court that has insisted that the elections be halted and that all parties come together to sort out their differences before proceeding any further. ANGLICAN-INFORMATION has reported the grave concerns in the Diocese of Lake Malawi regarding Bishop Chama's attempts to circumvent synodical processes and to sneak in a preferred new candidate, Henry M'baya (who has been lobbying vigorously, to the annoyance of the clergy) as bishop. This forced election has now rightly been stopped before enormous and permanent damage is done.
Sensibly, the people of Lake Malawi have, as a last resort, appealed to the civil courts and been granted an Injunction. This means that Bishop Chama will now have to enter into meaningful dialogue and not act as he did, for example, at the last diocesan Standing Committee when he ordered members not to speak.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION respectfully says that there is a lesson here for Bishop Chama in the way in which traditional African chiefs conduct business on behalf of the people. Tradition determines that their role is to allow everybody to speak and give their views. Only then do they speak last, summing up the majority decision and thereafter enabling it. A good example of this process at work was undertaken by the then Dean of the Province, Bishop Trevor Mwamba of Botswana who succeeded last year in getting all parties to agree to a synodical process and a subsequent referral to an independent Provincial Court.
Upper Shire Diocese
Meanwhile it is thought that the also hastily arranged elections, scheduled for the same 16th February, for a new Bishop of Upper Shire (former Archbishop Malango's see) will still take place. However, things are not going according to the intended plan of selection for a preferred candidate, as no less than three frontrunners have now emerged who are respectively, an English priest, an American Episcopalian and a local priest.
Diocese of Harare, Zimbabwe
Sunday, 3rd February saw a tremendous and well-organised 'enthronement' of Bishop Sebastian Bakare held in the City Sports Centre. Thousands joyfully celebrated this mass affirmation of the diocese as part of the Central African Province, as opposed to those few who have followed dissident Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, who has declared independence.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to enthrone Bishop Bakare upon the Cathedral 'cathedra' as Nolbert Kunonga had camped overnight in the building with a gang of thugs to prevent access. Two brave souls who tried to enter were roughed up. This is all despite the fact that the High Court had ruled that the swearing-in of Bishop Sebastian Bakare, should go ahead and Bakare's followers should be allowed to worship in the Cathedral.
ANGLICAN-INFORMATION observes that support of the authentic diocese by the people is most encouraging. Nevertheless, until legal possession of the diocese is obtained and the accounts, keys, property and vehicles are back with the Province the problem has not been resolved. Kunonga remains a dangerous man - prayers please for Bishop Bakare.
Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Kabbalah and hemlines dominate
he 10-block stretch of Fifth Avenue between Rockefeller Centre and Central Park is the most expensive retail strip in the world, with average annual rents of about $1,500 (£750) a square foot. That kind of money focuses the mind, so while the rest of Manhattan rushed between the Super Tuesday polling booths and the Super Bowl victory parade for the Giants, attention at the opening of the Gucci flagship store on Fifth Avenue and 56th street remained on £2,000 handbags.
Tonight Gucci is celebrating the opening with a fundraising gala co-hosted by Madonna, to be held on the north lawn of the UN building. A live auction, compered by Chris Rock, aims to raise $2m which is to be divided between Raising Malawi, an organisation founded by Madonna to help Malawi's orphans, and Unicef. But the event has been hit by controversy after Fox News website said: "Raising Malawi is merely a front for Philip Berg's Kabbalah Centre of Los Angeles" and accused Madonna of having "conned" Gucci into raising money for Kabbalah under false pretexts. Madonna and Gucci deny the claims.
Gucci's most recent financial reports show a profit of €611.8m (£456.5m) in 2006, making it one of the most profitable brands in the luxury business. But Frida Giannini, its creative director, understands that what Gucci needs is the feelgood factor. "My job is not only to create a dress or a handbag, but to create a Gucci world, a world of beauty and style, and a world that has a strong sense of responsibility," she said yesterday.
On the catwalks yesterday, the controversy centred on hemlines: whether next season would see a triumph for the floorlength gowns of Halston and Jonathan Saunders, or for the short dresses of DKNY and Proenza Schouler.
Tonight Gucci is celebrating the opening with a fundraising gala co-hosted by Madonna, to be held on the north lawn of the UN building. A live auction, compered by Chris Rock, aims to raise $2m which is to be divided between Raising Malawi, an organisation founded by Madonna to help Malawi's orphans, and Unicef. But the event has been hit by controversy after Fox News website said: "Raising Malawi is merely a front for Philip Berg's Kabbalah Centre of Los Angeles" and accused Madonna of having "conned" Gucci into raising money for Kabbalah under false pretexts. Madonna and Gucci deny the claims.
Gucci's most recent financial reports show a profit of €611.8m (£456.5m) in 2006, making it one of the most profitable brands in the luxury business. But Frida Giannini, its creative director, understands that what Gucci needs is the feelgood factor. "My job is not only to create a dress or a handbag, but to create a Gucci world, a world of beauty and style, and a world that has a strong sense of responsibility," she said yesterday.
On the catwalks yesterday, the controversy centred on hemlines: whether next season would see a triumph for the floorlength gowns of Halston and Jonathan Saunders, or for the short dresses of DKNY and Proenza Schouler.
Subsidising Agriculture is Not Enough
Malawi is riding high on the success of its fertiliser subsidy programme and has become a regional exporter hoping to profit from booming food prices, but analysts are a bit more wary.
Globally food prices have shot up by nearly 75 percent within a decade and will continue to do so, according to the World Bank's annual Global Economic Prospects 2008.
"We are looking to expand our exports regionally, at least; the high food prices have come as an added incentive. It is a good opportunity for our farmers - we have to invest in agriculture," said Patrick Kabambe, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Malawi's National Food Reserve Agency officially exported 286,589 tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe by the end of December 2007, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET). The World Food Programme also sent 32,363 tonnes of Malawian maize to Zimbabwe, bringing the total official exports from Malawi to 321,406 tonnes. The country also donated maize to drought-hit Lesotho and Swaziland.
World prices have risen sharply partly because of the "stepped-up" use of food crops for biofuels and partly because of other factors like rapid income growth in developing countries, high fertiliser prices, low stocks, and droughts, the World Bank said.
In 2007, the ministry of agriculture recorded a "big jump" in the number of farmers growing maize, said Kabambe. "We are still compiling the data."
According to the last situation report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), cereal-based food staples like bread, pasta and tortillas became more expensive in countries across the world, as did milk and meat.
"Prices have been contained for now but continue to remain high at the beginning of 2008," said Abdolreza Abbassian, secretary of the FAO-Intergovernmental Group on Grain. "The price of wheat and soya-bean [in January 2008] was at the highest it has been in 30 years, while maize is trading at 10-year high prices."
Fears of a global "economic meltdown" and a positive crop forecast for the northern hemisphere have helped stabilise food prices in the past few weeks.
Malawi's agriculture has turned a corner since the drought in 2005, which left close to five million people in need of food aid. The government estimated the 2007 maize crop at 73 percent higher than the average for the past five years. The country requires around two million tonnes of maize annually to feed its population of over 12 million but harvested surplus of about 1.5 million tonnes
Malawi's agriculture has turned a corner since the drought in 2005, which left close to five million people in need of food aid. The government estimated the 2007 maize crop at 73 percent higher than the average for the past five years. The country requires around two million tonnes of maize annually to feed its population of over 12 million but harvested surplus of about 1.5 million tonnes.
The government attributed the high maize production to subsidised fertiliser, which was sold to farmers at 950 kwacha [about US$6.50] per 50kg bag in 2007; in 2004 the price was around K4,000 [about $27] per 50kg bag.
Each kilogram of fertiliser applied per hectare can produce a minimum yield of over 3kg of grain, according to the Zimbabwe-based African Centre for Fertiliser Development. Farmers in Africa usually apply 16kg/ha, while the desirable level is 100kg/ha. Fertilisers account for one-third of the worldwide increase in cereal production, with India contributing 50 percent of the increase, according to the FAO.
The UN agency has warned that unless the nearly 70 million smallholder families in sub-Saharan Africa apply fertilisers and start practising sustainable land and water management on their farms within the next decade, they "will seriously jeopardise their long-term food security, productivity and incomes, while environmental degradation will accelerate".
FAO recommended that average fertiliser application rates in sub-Saharan Africa increase up to 23kg/ha within the next decade to prevent loss of nutrients in the soil and resultant low productivity, but few farmers in Africa can afford them.
Subsidies at what cost?
Agricultural pundits tend to criticise input subsidies. "The problem is one of opportunity cost - what might have been achieved with the same resources had they been spent on something else?" asked Steve Wiggins, Research Fellow in Rural Policy & Governance at the UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
"The clearest candidate is agricultural research, where studies repeatedly show very high returns to additional spending; rural roads would be another candidate. Besides, he warned, "the political economy of subsidies is not so good either: once in place, they are the very devil to remove".
Subsidies tend to rise and India is often used to illustrate the pitfalls. "Spending on farm subsidies for electricity, irrigation and water [in India], having once been modest, now exceed the budget for primary education," Wiggins commented.
"India has a huge education deficit; it is staggering that more is spent on farm subsidies than primary schools. Most of the subsidies, by the way, go to the larger and better-off farmers." He said the lack of investment in rural infrastructure and research had slowed the farm economy in India, which was no longer generating new jobs.
Thom Jayne, who teaches agricultural economics at Michigan State University (MSU) in the US, pointed out that "Currently, the governments of Malawi and Zambia devote at least 60 percent of their agricultural budgets to input and crop marketing subsidies, leaving relatively little for the long-term investments that must be put in place for sustainable reductions in poverty and hunger."
Malawi plans to spend $78 million in 2008 - up from $51 million in 2007 - on seed and fertiliser subsidies for farmers, said James Breen, regional emergency agronomist at the FAO. The scheme was effective because it recognised that subsistence farmers have too little working capital, "but it costs", he added.
Why should Malawi not have the scheme? asked Mafa Chipeta, FAO representative at the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. "If the developed world can subsidise agriculture to the tune of millions for its farmers, who earn $50,000 a year, why can't Africa offer subsidies to its farmers, who earn $100 a year?"
Wiggins acknowledged that agricultural subsidies offered by governments in the developed world were a "wasteful embarrassment" but argued that rich countries could afford them.
Malawi's success has won plaudits from noted economists Jeffery Sachs and Glenn Denning of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the US. "The impact has stunned the sceptics and the doomsayers; it seems that an African green revolution is possible after all," Sachs and Denning said in an article they wrote for the London-based Financial Times newspaper in 2007.
MSU's Jayne defended fertiliser subsidy sceptics, saying, "Their positions are usually based on sincere efforts to make scarce development resources provide the greatest achievable payoffs for smallholder farmers. Part of the reason for relatively low returns to fertiliser subsidy programmes, as commonly implemented, is that they displace or 'crowd out' commercial fertiliser sales."
He pointed out that "Recent evidence from Zambia and Malawi indicates that every additional ton of fertiliser distributed under their subsidy programme adds only 0.5 to 0.6 tons of fertiliser to farmers' fields. This is because subsidised fertiliser is often distributed to farmers who would otherwise have purchased fertiliser from commercial retailers [rather than to needy farmers]."
Subsidies often broke down during implementation, said Jayne. In Malawi's case, for example, the subsidy programme did not involve any private fertiliser retailers, which could impede future investment in establishing fertiliser outlets in remote smallholder areas.
"Only four firms received almost all of the contracts to import government fertiliser," he noted. Seventy percent of the subsidised fertiliser was delivered to government distribution points, which then sold the fertiliser to farmers at 25 percent of the full cost, making it very difficult for commercial retailers to sell their own fertiliser, since they had to import at full cost.
More importantly, in studies conducted during 2007 Jayne found that the Malawi programme failed to target needy farmers. "The logic of the programmes is that poor farmers cannot use fertiliser efficiently, and would not contribute to national maize self-sufficiency, hence the need to target more commercialised smallholder farmers."
He added, "Nevertheless, the poor benefited indirectly from the Malawi fertiliser programme because the abundant harvest brought maize prices down and the staple food cost them less".
Fertiliser is only one ingredient in a bumper harvest
Sachs and Denning admitted that Malawi would need more than subsidised farm inputs to escape from the trap of dependency. "Malawi needs to invest in water harvesting and irrigation, diversified agriculture, village-based clinics, rural electrification, rural roads and other infrastructure critical for long-term growth."
Nevertheless, the poor benefited indirectly from the Malawi fertiliser programme because the abundant harvest brought maize prices down and the staple food cost them less
Land size also counts: a growing population and limited arable hectarage has hampered Malawi's ability to produce food. The country's inheritance patterns, which result in land being equally divided among siblings, has led to an average arable landholding of .23ha per capita, and even less in the southern region, according to a report commissioned by USAID in 2005, The Governance Dimensions of Food Security in Malawi.
"Land is far more inequitably distributed than income ... because much of the best land is occupied by agricultural estates," forcing most Malawians to rely on the market to procure maize, the report commented. "This places them at the mercy of highly volatile food prices, which tend to be low at harvest and higher during the growing or the 'hungry season' [December to March]."
Many small-scale farmers resorted to working for a pittance - about 29 US cents a day - as casual labour on the estates, which still kept maize beyond the reach of many.
"In Malawi, where land pressures are particularly severe, 70 percent of all smallholder households possess less than one hectare of land, and only nine percent of smallholders in a nationally representative survey [conducted in June 2007] sold maize in the past 12 months," Jayne said.
"While many farms in Asia were similarly very small at the time of their green revolutions, many of them enjoyed irrigation and the higher returns to fertiliser that could be achieved with water control, and more than one cropping season," he added.
"These factors substantially improved Asian land productivity, and partially relieved the severity of the land constraint among small farms. By contrast, the vast majority of African farms are dependent on rain and one crop season per year."
Globally food prices have shot up by nearly 75 percent within a decade and will continue to do so, according to the World Bank's annual Global Economic Prospects 2008.
"We are looking to expand our exports regionally, at least; the high food prices have come as an added incentive. It is a good opportunity for our farmers - we have to invest in agriculture," said Patrick Kabambe, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.
Malawi's National Food Reserve Agency officially exported 286,589 tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe by the end of December 2007, according to the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET). The World Food Programme also sent 32,363 tonnes of Malawian maize to Zimbabwe, bringing the total official exports from Malawi to 321,406 tonnes. The country also donated maize to drought-hit Lesotho and Swaziland.
World prices have risen sharply partly because of the "stepped-up" use of food crops for biofuels and partly because of other factors like rapid income growth in developing countries, high fertiliser prices, low stocks, and droughts, the World Bank said.
In 2007, the ministry of agriculture recorded a "big jump" in the number of farmers growing maize, said Kabambe. "We are still compiling the data."
According to the last situation report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), cereal-based food staples like bread, pasta and tortillas became more expensive in countries across the world, as did milk and meat.
"Prices have been contained for now but continue to remain high at the beginning of 2008," said Abdolreza Abbassian, secretary of the FAO-Intergovernmental Group on Grain. "The price of wheat and soya-bean [in January 2008] was at the highest it has been in 30 years, while maize is trading at 10-year high prices."
Fears of a global "economic meltdown" and a positive crop forecast for the northern hemisphere have helped stabilise food prices in the past few weeks.
Malawi's agriculture has turned a corner since the drought in 2005, which left close to five million people in need of food aid. The government estimated the 2007 maize crop at 73 percent higher than the average for the past five years. The country requires around two million tonnes of maize annually to feed its population of over 12 million but harvested surplus of about 1.5 million tonnes
Malawi's agriculture has turned a corner since the drought in 2005, which left close to five million people in need of food aid. The government estimated the 2007 maize crop at 73 percent higher than the average for the past five years. The country requires around two million tonnes of maize annually to feed its population of over 12 million but harvested surplus of about 1.5 million tonnes.
The government attributed the high maize production to subsidised fertiliser, which was sold to farmers at 950 kwacha [about US$6.50] per 50kg bag in 2007; in 2004 the price was around K4,000 [about $27] per 50kg bag.
Each kilogram of fertiliser applied per hectare can produce a minimum yield of over 3kg of grain, according to the Zimbabwe-based African Centre for Fertiliser Development. Farmers in Africa usually apply 16kg/ha, while the desirable level is 100kg/ha. Fertilisers account for one-third of the worldwide increase in cereal production, with India contributing 50 percent of the increase, according to the FAO.
The UN agency has warned that unless the nearly 70 million smallholder families in sub-Saharan Africa apply fertilisers and start practising sustainable land and water management on their farms within the next decade, they "will seriously jeopardise their long-term food security, productivity and incomes, while environmental degradation will accelerate".
FAO recommended that average fertiliser application rates in sub-Saharan Africa increase up to 23kg/ha within the next decade to prevent loss of nutrients in the soil and resultant low productivity, but few farmers in Africa can afford them.
Subsidies at what cost?
Agricultural pundits tend to criticise input subsidies. "The problem is one of opportunity cost - what might have been achieved with the same resources had they been spent on something else?" asked Steve Wiggins, Research Fellow in Rural Policy & Governance at the UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
"The clearest candidate is agricultural research, where studies repeatedly show very high returns to additional spending; rural roads would be another candidate. Besides, he warned, "the political economy of subsidies is not so good either: once in place, they are the very devil to remove".
Subsidies tend to rise and India is often used to illustrate the pitfalls. "Spending on farm subsidies for electricity, irrigation and water [in India], having once been modest, now exceed the budget for primary education," Wiggins commented.
"India has a huge education deficit; it is staggering that more is spent on farm subsidies than primary schools. Most of the subsidies, by the way, go to the larger and better-off farmers." He said the lack of investment in rural infrastructure and research had slowed the farm economy in India, which was no longer generating new jobs.
Thom Jayne, who teaches agricultural economics at Michigan State University (MSU) in the US, pointed out that "Currently, the governments of Malawi and Zambia devote at least 60 percent of their agricultural budgets to input and crop marketing subsidies, leaving relatively little for the long-term investments that must be put in place for sustainable reductions in poverty and hunger."
Malawi plans to spend $78 million in 2008 - up from $51 million in 2007 - on seed and fertiliser subsidies for farmers, said James Breen, regional emergency agronomist at the FAO. The scheme was effective because it recognised that subsistence farmers have too little working capital, "but it costs", he added.
Why should Malawi not have the scheme? asked Mafa Chipeta, FAO representative at the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa. "If the developed world can subsidise agriculture to the tune of millions for its farmers, who earn $50,000 a year, why can't Africa offer subsidies to its farmers, who earn $100 a year?"
Wiggins acknowledged that agricultural subsidies offered by governments in the developed world were a "wasteful embarrassment" but argued that rich countries could afford them.
Malawi's success has won plaudits from noted economists Jeffery Sachs and Glenn Denning of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the US. "The impact has stunned the sceptics and the doomsayers; it seems that an African green revolution is possible after all," Sachs and Denning said in an article they wrote for the London-based Financial Times newspaper in 2007.
MSU's Jayne defended fertiliser subsidy sceptics, saying, "Their positions are usually based on sincere efforts to make scarce development resources provide the greatest achievable payoffs for smallholder farmers. Part of the reason for relatively low returns to fertiliser subsidy programmes, as commonly implemented, is that they displace or 'crowd out' commercial fertiliser sales."
He pointed out that "Recent evidence from Zambia and Malawi indicates that every additional ton of fertiliser distributed under their subsidy programme adds only 0.5 to 0.6 tons of fertiliser to farmers' fields. This is because subsidised fertiliser is often distributed to farmers who would otherwise have purchased fertiliser from commercial retailers [rather than to needy farmers]."
Subsidies often broke down during implementation, said Jayne. In Malawi's case, for example, the subsidy programme did not involve any private fertiliser retailers, which could impede future investment in establishing fertiliser outlets in remote smallholder areas.
"Only four firms received almost all of the contracts to import government fertiliser," he noted. Seventy percent of the subsidised fertiliser was delivered to government distribution points, which then sold the fertiliser to farmers at 25 percent of the full cost, making it very difficult for commercial retailers to sell their own fertiliser, since they had to import at full cost.
More importantly, in studies conducted during 2007 Jayne found that the Malawi programme failed to target needy farmers. "The logic of the programmes is that poor farmers cannot use fertiliser efficiently, and would not contribute to national maize self-sufficiency, hence the need to target more commercialised smallholder farmers."
He added, "Nevertheless, the poor benefited indirectly from the Malawi fertiliser programme because the abundant harvest brought maize prices down and the staple food cost them less".
Fertiliser is only one ingredient in a bumper harvest
Sachs and Denning admitted that Malawi would need more than subsidised farm inputs to escape from the trap of dependency. "Malawi needs to invest in water harvesting and irrigation, diversified agriculture, village-based clinics, rural electrification, rural roads and other infrastructure critical for long-term growth."
Nevertheless, the poor benefited indirectly from the Malawi fertiliser programme because the abundant harvest brought maize prices down and the staple food cost them less
Land size also counts: a growing population and limited arable hectarage has hampered Malawi's ability to produce food. The country's inheritance patterns, which result in land being equally divided among siblings, has led to an average arable landholding of .23ha per capita, and even less in the southern region, according to a report commissioned by USAID in 2005, The Governance Dimensions of Food Security in Malawi.
"Land is far more inequitably distributed than income ... because much of the best land is occupied by agricultural estates," forcing most Malawians to rely on the market to procure maize, the report commented. "This places them at the mercy of highly volatile food prices, which tend to be low at harvest and higher during the growing or the 'hungry season' [December to March]."
Many small-scale farmers resorted to working for a pittance - about 29 US cents a day - as casual labour on the estates, which still kept maize beyond the reach of many.
"In Malawi, where land pressures are particularly severe, 70 percent of all smallholder households possess less than one hectare of land, and only nine percent of smallholders in a nationally representative survey [conducted in June 2007] sold maize in the past 12 months," Jayne said.
"While many farms in Asia were similarly very small at the time of their green revolutions, many of them enjoyed irrigation and the higher returns to fertiliser that could be achieved with water control, and more than one cropping season," he added.
"These factors substantially improved Asian land productivity, and partially relieved the severity of the land constraint among small farms. By contrast, the vast majority of African farms are dependent on rain and one crop season per year."
Malawi starts rationing maize as stocks fall
Malawi has started rationing the sale of maize across the country following a report in parliament that the country's maize stocks are dwindling, authorities said on Tuesday.
The southern African nation harvested 3.1 million tonnes of maize in the last planting season -- its biggest in 10 years. The government exported 400,000 tonnes to hunger stricken Zimbabwe.
Dzoole Mwale, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, told Reuters in an interview that the rationing came after an assessment found that most government markets either had a shortage or were running out of the staple.
Government buys and sells maize through the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc)
"We found serious maize shortages in Admarc markets in most parts of the country and this has created serious problems especially in the urban areas where people rely on buying maize from Admarc to feed their families," Mwale said.
"But we are happy that government has moved in quickly and started rationing the sales to make sure that everyone has a share," Mwale said.
Mwale said the committee would meet on Friday to discuss among other things, whether the maize shortage was linked to exports to neighbouring Zimbabwe.
People said Admarc was only allowing people to buy not more than 25 kg of maize a month.
"I have eight children and a 25 kg bag is not enough to feed my family for the whole month," said Esnart Phiri, among scores of people waiting for maize at Lilongwe's Area 25 Admarc market.
Admarc said the rationing was temporal and the country had enough stocks to last a year.
Most parts of Malawi usually start having maize shortages between December and March of each year when most households have exhausted their previous harvest and wait for the next.
U.N. agencies in the country estimate that a million or more people may need food aid as floods continue destroying crop fields in 14 districts. About 72,000 people have been left homeless and six killed by flooding.
The southern African nation harvested 3.1 million tonnes of maize in the last planting season -- its biggest in 10 years. The government exported 400,000 tonnes to hunger stricken Zimbabwe.
Dzoole Mwale, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, told Reuters in an interview that the rationing came after an assessment found that most government markets either had a shortage or were running out of the staple.
Government buys and sells maize through the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc)
"We found serious maize shortages in Admarc markets in most parts of the country and this has created serious problems especially in the urban areas where people rely on buying maize from Admarc to feed their families," Mwale said.
"But we are happy that government has moved in quickly and started rationing the sales to make sure that everyone has a share," Mwale said.
Mwale said the committee would meet on Friday to discuss among other things, whether the maize shortage was linked to exports to neighbouring Zimbabwe.
People said Admarc was only allowing people to buy not more than 25 kg of maize a month.
"I have eight children and a 25 kg bag is not enough to feed my family for the whole month," said Esnart Phiri, among scores of people waiting for maize at Lilongwe's Area 25 Admarc market.
Admarc said the rationing was temporal and the country had enough stocks to last a year.
Most parts of Malawi usually start having maize shortages between December and March of each year when most households have exhausted their previous harvest and wait for the next.
U.N. agencies in the country estimate that a million or more people may need food aid as floods continue destroying crop fields in 14 districts. About 72,000 people have been left homeless and six killed by flooding.
UNB student lends mapping skills to Malawi
A University of New Brunswick graduate student's contribution to map-making processes in Africa might mean more homes for more people.
Robbie Kingdon, a graduate student in the geomatics and geodesy department at UNB, went to Malawi recently to help professors at the Mzuzu University establish a modern geomatics engineering training program.
The work in Malawi is ongoing and next month, one of Mzuzu's professors will come to UNB for six months of instruction.
Kingdon said geodesy relates to the shape of the Earth and the energy fields associated with the Earth.
Geomatics deals with measuring the Earth, he said.
Kingdon said Malawi has a population of 13 million, borders Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania, has 12 land surveyors and two universities that teach geomatics.
He said the country is among the poorest nations in the world.
"There are a lot of people in a relatively small country relocating from rural areas to larger centres," Kingdon said.
He said many people are relocating and squatting on government-owned vacant land in the cities.
"That creates the problem of multiple informal settlements and no official individual rights to the land," said Kingdon.
He said the Malawian government wants to accommodate the influx of people and formalize the land transfer to the new residents.
To do that, he said, accurate surveys have to be made. The problem is the government and survey companies aren't up to date with their technology, he said.
That's where UNB's expertise in geomatics and geodesy comes in.
"UNB has a worldwide reputation for its engineering programs," Kingdon said.
He went to Malawi during the summer, and over the course of three months he introduced students, professors and surveyors to new and modern methods of land surveying.
Kingdon said he talked to all stakeholders in Malawi's land-surveying community and discovered some deficiencies.
"They overlooked the capabilities of surveyors," he said. "Professors taught modern methods, but students and existing survey companies did not have the modern technological equipment like global positioning units available to them."
He said other problems facing the educational institutions are a lack of consistency in instruction and little interaction among surveyors and between surveyors and educational institutions.
"I recommended a curriculum be developed at the Mzuzu University that will complement instruction at other institutions; increase networking skills for those in the surveying community and the development of a plan to obtain modern equipment and to keep it up to date," Kingdon said.
"The Malawi people were very receptive to my suggestions and were anxious to learn more. I pitched some ideas to Malawi's chief surveyor, Daniel Gondwe, and he was very excited about the possibilities."
Kingdon said work in Malawi is far from finished.
"While providing excellent opportunities in higher education here at home for the people of New Brunswick, UNB also has a strong national and international presence," said Richard Langley, UNB professor of geodesy and precision navigation.
"In fact, from the president on down, UNB is actively encouraging international co-operation in teaching, research and community development."
UNB's assistance to the Mzuzu University and the government of Malawi is a prime example of this international activity.
Malawi has a pressing need for qualified land surveyors, Langley said.
"Through the efforts of Kingdon and others, UNB will help the (Mzuzu) university to graduate surveyors with modern skill sets and thereby assist Malawi in its efforts to improve land-management practices," Langley said.
"The department is extremely proud of Robbie and his efforts to help a developing nation improve the well being of its citizens."
Robbie Kingdon, a graduate student in the geomatics and geodesy department at UNB, went to Malawi recently to help professors at the Mzuzu University establish a modern geomatics engineering training program.
The work in Malawi is ongoing and next month, one of Mzuzu's professors will come to UNB for six months of instruction.
Kingdon said geodesy relates to the shape of the Earth and the energy fields associated with the Earth.
Geomatics deals with measuring the Earth, he said.
Kingdon said Malawi has a population of 13 million, borders Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania, has 12 land surveyors and two universities that teach geomatics.
He said the country is among the poorest nations in the world.
"There are a lot of people in a relatively small country relocating from rural areas to larger centres," Kingdon said.
He said many people are relocating and squatting on government-owned vacant land in the cities.
"That creates the problem of multiple informal settlements and no official individual rights to the land," said Kingdon.
He said the Malawian government wants to accommodate the influx of people and formalize the land transfer to the new residents.
To do that, he said, accurate surveys have to be made. The problem is the government and survey companies aren't up to date with their technology, he said.
That's where UNB's expertise in geomatics and geodesy comes in.
"UNB has a worldwide reputation for its engineering programs," Kingdon said.
He went to Malawi during the summer, and over the course of three months he introduced students, professors and surveyors to new and modern methods of land surveying.
Kingdon said he talked to all stakeholders in Malawi's land-surveying community and discovered some deficiencies.
"They overlooked the capabilities of surveyors," he said. "Professors taught modern methods, but students and existing survey companies did not have the modern technological equipment like global positioning units available to them."
He said other problems facing the educational institutions are a lack of consistency in instruction and little interaction among surveyors and between surveyors and educational institutions.
"I recommended a curriculum be developed at the Mzuzu University that will complement instruction at other institutions; increase networking skills for those in the surveying community and the development of a plan to obtain modern equipment and to keep it up to date," Kingdon said.
"The Malawi people were very receptive to my suggestions and were anxious to learn more. I pitched some ideas to Malawi's chief surveyor, Daniel Gondwe, and he was very excited about the possibilities."
Kingdon said work in Malawi is far from finished.
"While providing excellent opportunities in higher education here at home for the people of New Brunswick, UNB also has a strong national and international presence," said Richard Langley, UNB professor of geodesy and precision navigation.
"In fact, from the president on down, UNB is actively encouraging international co-operation in teaching, research and community development."
UNB's assistance to the Mzuzu University and the government of Malawi is a prime example of this international activity.
Malawi has a pressing need for qualified land surveyors, Langley said.
"Through the efforts of Kingdon and others, UNB will help the (Mzuzu) university to graduate surveyors with modern skill sets and thereby assist Malawi in its efforts to improve land-management practices," Langley said.
"The department is extremely proud of Robbie and his efforts to help a developing nation improve the well being of its citizens."
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