Malawi was one of the countries hardest hit by the 2002 drought in southern Africa. It left about five million of the country’s 12 million people in dire need of food aid. But this year, Malawi is boasting a large surplus of its staple food crop, maize, and overnight has become an donor of food aid to its neighbors. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Lameck Masina in Blantyre says maize provides for over half of Malawi’s food needs and, as maize meal, is a significant part of the diet in most southern African countries. Government statistics show that this year Malawi has harvested 3.4 million metric tones of maize – 22 percent more than last year. That means a little more than a million tons is available for sale or donation.
Mac Leans Victor Makwinja is a crop specialist in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. He says good weather is not the only reason for the high yield; a new technique for planting maize called the one-one method has contributed. In this method, only one seed is planted in each hole rather than three, which is the traditional practice. This eliminates competition for nutrients and makes it more likely the single seed will grow. Makwinja says, “Farmers have realized the importance of adopting modern farming techniques. For example, we are advocating the one-one-planting of maize, which most farmers have discovered that it is very good method of planting maize. [The Ministry of Agriculture has] also gone flat out to do a lot of campaigns on manure making and also soil and water conservation. And we are encouraging our farmers to use improved seed varieties. These varieties tend to yield much, much more than local varieties.”
The bumper maize harvest is also attributed to government fertilizer subsidies introduced in 2005. In the program, Village Development Committees provided poor farmers with coupons to buy the fertilizers at a reduced price.
The government also helped members of farmers’ clubs increase irrigation by giving them free treadle pumps, which are operated by foot. The pumps have allowed maize to be grown year-round in most parts of the country.
So far, Malawi has sold 400,000 metric tons to Zimbabwe, which is experiencing severe hunger problems.
Malawi has also pledged to donate 5,000 metric tons to both Swaziland and Lesotho. The two countries are in dire need of food aid after natural and man-made disasters left them without enough food.
In Swaziland, the problem is mainly the result of last year’s drought. In Lesotho it’s due to wildfires that destroyed crops.
But Malawi’s pledge to help its neighbors is not without its critics. Rafik Hajat is the executive director of the independent Institute for Policy Interaction, a research-driven advocacy group specializing in democratic consolidation and social justice. Hajat says Malawi is not in a position to donate maize to other countries. He says selling and donating the maize, rather than storing it, would put the country at risk of hunger, as was the case in 2002, when the government sold all surplus maize to Kenya.
But President Bingu wa Mutharika says the donations will encourage farmers to grow more maize, whereas storing it may discourage farmers from growing it in the future. He said he deems it humane and proper to assist those in need. Hajat, however, says he doubts that the government’s claim of a surplus is true and does not think Malawi is in a position to donate maize to other countries. He questions the government’s statistics.
“One thing about statistics – they can be used to show whatever you want them to show. I think the annual requirement for Malawi is 2.5 million (metric) tons. We have already sold about 400,000 (metric) tons to Zimbabwe. That means that we no longer have that surplus. If you do your math you may probably find that we have half a million tons left. After spoilage and so on, I wonder how much really would remain in our silos.”
Hajat said the government should have considered a number of factors before making the pledge. “Rainfall patterns are erratic and I think our irrigation-fed agriculture has not developed to an extent where we can certainly project bumper harvests year on year on year. I would say that it is imperative for the government to ensure that we have adequate stocks, buffer stocks, in case we are not blessed with plentiful rains in the future.”
But the Minister of Agriculture says it’s possible that Malawi will have another bumper harvest this year. “Already there are plans [for a] 2007/2008 (fertilizer) subsidy program again this season. Assuming all the factors are good, for example good weather, and we are going to low levels of pest and diseases, there are chances that we are going to have another bumper harvest this season.”
President Mutharika denies the maize donation could lead to hunger in Malawi. He says his government has put in place mechanisms to ensure Malawians will continue to enjoy high yields in the years to come.
Friday, 8 February 2008
New York Fashion Week: Gucci benefit for 'Malawi and Unicef'
Madonna and her 11-year-old daughter, Lourdes, making her first Red Carpet appearance, were the stars of the multi-million dollar charity benefit staged by Gucci at the United Nations during New York Fashion Week on Wednesday night.
Madonna and her daughter Lourdes Leon arrive at "A Night to Benefit Raising Malawi and UNICEF"
First red carpet appearance: Lourdes Leon with her mother Madonna
Holding her mother’s hand, as they walked the red carpet, and dressed in a navy satin Gucci dress, Lourdes faced the television cameras with poise.
“I am very proud of my mother and what she is doing and I’m very excited about tonight,” she said.
The event, ‘Raising Malawi and Unicef’, co-chaired by Madonna, who has an adopted son from Malawi, and the Gucci designer, Frida Giannini, raised in excess of $5 million.
Held in a marquee on the UN’s North Lawn – the first time it has been used for a celebrity event – the gala brought a Hollywood A-List to New York.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes; Gwyneth Paltrow; Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher; Salma Hayek and her beau, Francois-Henri Pinault of the Paris-based PPR Group which owns Gucci; a heavily pregnant Jennifer Lopez, expecting her first child in a few weeks, and her husband, Marc Anthony; Drew Barrymore, Orlando Bloom; Brooke Shields; Lucy Liu; and Kate Hudson were among the 650 guests.
Almost all the women were dressed in Gucci, except Katie Holmes Cruise, a striking exception in a crimson, figure-hugging dress, by the British designer, Alexander McQueen.
The evening featured performances by Alicia Keyes, Timbaland, Rihanna and the African Children’s Choir.
Madonna, who wore a simple beige, silk jersey Gucci dress, with minimal diamonds, took the stage for an impassioned and frank introductory speech. Confessing she was more nervous than performing live in a stadium, she said she had spent 25 years in the entertainment business thinking only of herself and wanting to be the best.
“One day I woke up and thought what is the point?” She cited a Zulu proverb which translates as ‘I am because we are’, adding: ”I’ve spent enough time on the I.”
She said her first trip to Malawi, where one million children are orphaned by AIDS and where girls, by the time they reach their 12th birthdays – the age her daughter Lourdes will be in October - will have been sexually abused at least three times, “was the journey of a lifetime.”
"I am facing a room of giants. But I don't just want your cheques. I want your heart. It is not just about giving. It is about the person you become in the process."
The evening, underwritten by Gucci, raised $3.7 million in ticket sales, with a further $1.3 million from an auction which included football training with David Beckham, a gym session with Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, a first edition of Harry Potter signed by J.K. Rowling and a personal wardrobe fitting with Frida Giannini.
Several millions more are expected to be generated in a “silent auction”.
The money will be used to build a girls’ secondary school in Malawi which will open in 2010.
Enough Food for Everyone?
Despite a bumper harvest last season, there are signs of maize shortages in some parts of Malawi, but deputy minister of agriculture Bintony Kutsaira has maintained that stocks of the staple grain are sufficient.
Spot-checks of outlets run by the state grain marketer, the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC), in major towns revealed that people have been forced to buy less than the minimum quantity of 50kg of maize. In some instances a 50kg bag of maize was shared among three or four people.
Vitus Dzoole-Mwale, chairman of parliament's Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said parts of the country were suffering shortages despite a 3.5 million tonnes maize harvest in 2007. The country requires around two million tonnes annually to feed its population of over 12 million.
In late 2007, the committee found a number of households with no maize reserve to carry them through the lean season from December until the next harvest in April 2008. "As a committee we toured several districts throughout the country to assess the food situation and we discovered that a considerable number of people in many districts are already experiencing hunger," Dzoole-Mwale said. "The situation will need urgent government intervention."
However, agriculture deputy minister Kutsaira told IRIN that the country "has more than enough maize in stock", and talk of food shortages was incorrect. He said weather conditions had made it difficult for government to collect maize from the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) silos and distribute it to selling points throughout the country, causing a shortage of maize in ADMARC depots.
If you go around the townships in Blantyre you will see long queues of people desperately waiting to buy grain. They are not allowed to buy a 50kg bag, but only mere 25kg - it is hardly enough for a family of two
Charles Matabwa, general manager of ADMARC, agreed that the country had enough maize and said it would be available at all outlets where stocks have run low; allegations that the country was facing hunger were a lie. "Let us not wish to have hunger here. There is no hunger in Malawi, for we have enough maize that will be in our stock for many months."
Kutsaira said, "We have more than adequate stock of maize in our silos. For instance, the silos in Mangochi, in the south, have more than 15,000 metric tonnes while in Lilongwe [the capital] there is more than 80,000 metric tonnes [available]. "Our requirement as a country between now and April when people are expected to harvest their crop is around 30,000 metric tonnes."
A political tiff over exports?
The government's decision to export more than 300,000 tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe in 2007 has added fuel to the debate over food shortages. "We warned them not to sell maize wholesale to Zimbabwe, but they would not listen," said Hophmally Makande, deputy secretary-general of the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF). Malawi also donated 10,000 mt of maize to drought-hit Lesotho and Swaziland in 2007.
Makande rubbished the government's claims that it has been unable to transport maize to all the ADMARC outlets because of bad weather, and said the road between Blantyre, the commercial hub, and Lilongwe, where government has the largest number of maize silos, was in perfect condition.
"If you go around the townships in Blantyre you will see long queues of people desperately waiting to buy grain. They are not allowed to buy a 50kg bag, but only a mere 25kg - it is hardly enough for a family of two."
The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET) noted in its latest regional cross-border trade update that the price of maize had risen since Malawi had started exporting: prices were higher between April and December 2007 than in the previous season.
The average price of a 50kg bag is 1,500 kwacha (about US$11), but in areas reportedly experiencing maize shortages it cost K2,000 (about $14) - the price reached during the drought in 2005, when five million people were left in need of food aid.
Spot-checks of outlets run by the state grain marketer, the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC), in major towns revealed that people have been forced to buy less than the minimum quantity of 50kg of maize. In some instances a 50kg bag of maize was shared among three or four people.
Vitus Dzoole-Mwale, chairman of parliament's Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said parts of the country were suffering shortages despite a 3.5 million tonnes maize harvest in 2007. The country requires around two million tonnes annually to feed its population of over 12 million.
In late 2007, the committee found a number of households with no maize reserve to carry them through the lean season from December until the next harvest in April 2008. "As a committee we toured several districts throughout the country to assess the food situation and we discovered that a considerable number of people in many districts are already experiencing hunger," Dzoole-Mwale said. "The situation will need urgent government intervention."
However, agriculture deputy minister Kutsaira told IRIN that the country "has more than enough maize in stock", and talk of food shortages was incorrect. He said weather conditions had made it difficult for government to collect maize from the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) silos and distribute it to selling points throughout the country, causing a shortage of maize in ADMARC depots.
If you go around the townships in Blantyre you will see long queues of people desperately waiting to buy grain. They are not allowed to buy a 50kg bag, but only mere 25kg - it is hardly enough for a family of two
Charles Matabwa, general manager of ADMARC, agreed that the country had enough maize and said it would be available at all outlets where stocks have run low; allegations that the country was facing hunger were a lie. "Let us not wish to have hunger here. There is no hunger in Malawi, for we have enough maize that will be in our stock for many months."
Kutsaira said, "We have more than adequate stock of maize in our silos. For instance, the silos in Mangochi, in the south, have more than 15,000 metric tonnes while in Lilongwe [the capital] there is more than 80,000 metric tonnes [available]. "Our requirement as a country between now and April when people are expected to harvest their crop is around 30,000 metric tonnes."
A political tiff over exports?
The government's decision to export more than 300,000 tonnes of maize to Zimbabwe in 2007 has added fuel to the debate over food shortages. "We warned them not to sell maize wholesale to Zimbabwe, but they would not listen," said Hophmally Makande, deputy secretary-general of the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF). Malawi also donated 10,000 mt of maize to drought-hit Lesotho and Swaziland in 2007.
Makande rubbished the government's claims that it has been unable to transport maize to all the ADMARC outlets because of bad weather, and said the road between Blantyre, the commercial hub, and Lilongwe, where government has the largest number of maize silos, was in perfect condition.
"If you go around the townships in Blantyre you will see long queues of people desperately waiting to buy grain. They are not allowed to buy a 50kg bag, but only a mere 25kg - it is hardly enough for a family of two."
The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS-NET) noted in its latest regional cross-border trade update that the price of maize had risen since Malawi had started exporting: prices were higher between April and December 2007 than in the previous season.
The average price of a 50kg bag is 1,500 kwacha (about US$11), but in areas reportedly experiencing maize shortages it cost K2,000 (about $14) - the price reached during the drought in 2005, when five million people were left in need of food aid.
Taiwan scraps donation of army vehicles to Malawi
Taiwan has withdrawn 10 vehicles it was to donate to Malawi for a peacekeeping mission in Darfur, a month after the southern Africa country cut diplomatic ties with the island nation, a senior Malawi official said.
Impoverished Malawi ended 41 years of relations with Taiwan in December and established links with mainland China, which has emerged as a major economic power in Africa and regards Taiwan as a renegade province.
Malawi Defence Minister Bob Khamisa said Taiwan has asked Toyota Malawi for a MK50 million ($356,000) refund that was used to buy the 4x4 Land Cruisers.
"We have not yet collected the vehicles from Toyota Malawi although Taiwan already made the payments to that effect. But now this is a big blow to both Malawi army and the troubled Darfur region," Khamisa told Reuters.
Malawi is sending 800 soldiers to war-torn Darfur under the African Union joint peacekeeping mission. More than 20,000 civilians have died in the last four years in Darfur and the conflict has displaced an estimated 2.5 million people.
Toyota Malawi and Taiwan spokesman Elliot Jiang declined to comment. Toyota said it would release a statement in due course.
The Taiwanese decision comes weeks after it pulled out 19 of its medical staff and equipment from a 300-bed hospital it built in northern Malawi.
Taiwan has also withdrawn technical assistance from a college in the capital Lilongwe, forcing the education ministry to suspend some courses that were on offer.
The number of countries that recognise Taiwan has dwindled since the United States, once Taiwan's biggest backer, formally recognised China in the wake of former U.S. Presi
Impoverished Malawi ended 41 years of relations with Taiwan in December and established links with mainland China, which has emerged as a major economic power in Africa and regards Taiwan as a renegade province.
Malawi Defence Minister Bob Khamisa said Taiwan has asked Toyota Malawi for a MK50 million ($356,000) refund that was used to buy the 4x4 Land Cruisers.
"We have not yet collected the vehicles from Toyota Malawi although Taiwan already made the payments to that effect. But now this is a big blow to both Malawi army and the troubled Darfur region," Khamisa told Reuters.
Malawi is sending 800 soldiers to war-torn Darfur under the African Union joint peacekeeping mission. More than 20,000 civilians have died in the last four years in Darfur and the conflict has displaced an estimated 2.5 million people.
Toyota Malawi and Taiwan spokesman Elliot Jiang declined to comment. Toyota said it would release a statement in due course.
The Taiwanese decision comes weeks after it pulled out 19 of its medical staff and equipment from a 300-bed hospital it built in northern Malawi.
Taiwan has also withdrawn technical assistance from a college in the capital Lilongwe, forcing the education ministry to suspend some courses that were on offer.
The number of countries that recognise Taiwan has dwindled since the United States, once Taiwan's biggest backer, formally recognised China in the wake of former U.S. Presi
Pastor Gilbert Momola: “We must stop looking at people living with HIV/AIDS as sinners”
JOHANNESBURG, 7 February 2008 (PlusNews) - MACHINGA, Gilbert Momola, 37, is the only pastor in Malawi's Evangelical Baptist Church who has declared his HIV-positive status. Despite the divisions it caused, his move prompted many to examine the stigma they attach to HIV. He lost his wife and child to AIDS-related illnesses, but has since remarried and had a child; both his wife and child are negative.
"It all started when I was at the Evangelical Baptist Bible School in Blantyre in 1999. My [first] wife was always in and out of hospital, suffering from a host of illnesses. One day I decided to go for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), a decision that was going to change my life forever.
"Naturally, the first thing that happens when you are told you are HIV positive is shock; I was shocked because I did not expect to catch the virus. Then there was the issue of stigma - would the congregation welcome an HIV-positive pastor to minister to them?
"I had planned to disclose my status at a pastors' conference, but what I heard saddened me. I had asked them what they would do if they saw an HIV- positive person and they answered that they would laugh. I was shocked and did not disclose that I was HIV positive.
"Later, when I was given a station from where I would be ministering, some pastors protested, saying how could the authorities bother to give me a station when I was going to die soon.
"What I have discovered is that there are certain churches in Malawi that are still unwilling to embrace people like me. They keep preaching that those with AIDS are sinners or got HIV through promiscuity, which is wrong.
"The mentality purporting those living with HIV/AIDS as sinners is slowly going away. There is still more work to be done though. We must stop looking at people living with HIV/AIDS as sinners and instead give them hope, compassion, care and love.
"From the time I came out in the open to declare my status, people felt free to talk to me about their status. Even doctors at the local clinic refer those that are HIV-positive to me for spiritual counselling and moral support. We encourage each other to live positively and contribute to development endeavours in our areas.
"As churches, we have come up with the Malawi Network of Religious Leaders of People Living with AIDS (MANERELA). In my own church I also work as Youth and HIV/AIDS Coordinator, and I must say that people are beginning to realise the importance of giving hope to AIDS patients.
Scots Government pledges £667k to Malawi
THE Scottish Government has announced funding of £667,775 as part of its ongoing commitment to improving the lives of the people of Malawi.
The funding was announced by Linda Fabiani, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture today, as she prepares to visit Malawi for the first time since taking office.
The funding is from the Government's International Development Fund which provides support to people in some of the poorest countries in the world.
The Scottish Government has pledged to double the fund to £9 million over the term of this Parliament and has committed a minimum of £3m a year to Malawi.
During her visit, Ms Fabiani will meet ministerial colleagues in the government of Malawi and visit some of the projects funded by the fund.
Ms Fabiani, who leaves on Saturday, said: "Today's funding will strengthen healthcare provision, support the training of teachers, provide assistance to families affected by HIV and AIDS and enable vital support for street children.
"I am convinced these projects will help strengthen services in the longer-term."
The funding was announced by Linda Fabiani, Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture today, as she prepares to visit Malawi for the first time since taking office.
The funding is from the Government's International Development Fund which provides support to people in some of the poorest countries in the world.
The Scottish Government has pledged to double the fund to £9 million over the term of this Parliament and has committed a minimum of £3m a year to Malawi.
During her visit, Ms Fabiani will meet ministerial colleagues in the government of Malawi and visit some of the projects funded by the fund.
Ms Fabiani, who leaves on Saturday, said: "Today's funding will strengthen healthcare provision, support the training of teachers, provide assistance to families affected by HIV and AIDS and enable vital support for street children.
"I am convinced these projects will help strengthen services in the longer-term."
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