Help 'heroic' Malawi workers plea

Ministers should give cash aid directly to the impoverished African state of Malawi, MSPs have been urged.

Judith Robertson, the Scottish head of relief charity Oxfam, said the approach could dramatically improve healthcare and education standards.

Her comments come as a study by Holyrood's European committee on international aid is published.

The current and previous Scottish governments have formed a special relationship with Malawi.

Rural support

Ms Robertson told the committee that the country, one of the poorest in the world, had only one nurse for every 3,500 people and thousands of unfilled nursing jobs.

She argued direct budget support was an effective way of getting help where it was needed.

"One option, and one Oxfam would like the Scottish Government to explore, is to provide direct budget support to the Malawian Government, specifically targeted at healthcare and education for the poorest, especially those in rural areas," she said.

Increasing nurses salaries, Ms Robertson told MSPs, would reward "heroic" staff, while support could be given to ensure the Malawi government was held to account for the way the money was spent.

MSPs urged to directly aid Malawi

Ministers should give cash aid direct to the government of an impoverished African state, MSPs have heard.

The plea came from the head of Oxfam in Scotland, who told a Holyrood committee the move could improve health and education.

And there should also be support for bodies that could ensure the Malawi government was held to account for the way the money was spent, Judith Robertson said.

Japan rescues flood victims

Malawi on Friday smiled when it received 420 million Japanese Yen for buying relief food for the underprivileged and those affected by the recent spate of floods.

Japan has provided the 556 million Malawi Kwacha aid through World Food Programme (WFP), which has also appealed to international organisations to assist countries in southern Africa, which have been hit by floods this year.

The Japanese Embassy in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe said Friday that beneficiaries to the relief food would include the vulnerable, especially those suffering from HIV/Aids, women and children as well as victims of floods.

“The 420 million Japanese Yen will fund WFP’s procurement of Maize and rice for this assistance. WFP is now implementing the protracted relief and recovery operation in Malawi through assistance to populations faced by food insecurity as a result of natural disasters and HIV/Aids pandemic,” said the statement.

It is estimated that 1.2 million people would annually benefit from this operation.

The country’s local daily of The Daily Times said Monday the current Japanese contribution to WFP’s programme in the southern African country amounts to almost 14 percent of the funds required for WFP’s operations for the year 2008.

Currently Malawi has been hit by a shortage of maize with most of its selling points going without the grain.

And this year the country risks experiencing a food shortage with experts attributing the poor yield to floods and the dry spell.

Mozambique is also another southern African country which has been hit hard by floods with the recent cyclone Jokwe displacing over 500 people.

Malawi opens tobacco sales with higher prices

Malawi opened its tobacco auction season on Monday with prices at record highs after the government set minimum prices and registered another international buyer.

The main auction floors, which opened in the capital Lilongwe on Monday, saw farmers sell their crop at between $6 and $11 per kg -- much higher than the minimum price set by the government last month of $2.20.

Tobacco is Malawi's mainstay, accounting for over 70 percent of exports and 15 percent of its gross domestic product, but for the last two years low prices have led to cuts in production.

For many years tobacco prices had hovered around 70-90 U.S. cents per kg, far lower than the $1 the industry says it costs to produce one kg of the golden leaf.

Prices started improving last year with farmers selling their crop between $1.60 and $1.70 per kg for the first time in several years after President Bingu wa Mutharika ordered buyers to offer better prices or leave the country.

Limbe Leaf Tobacco, majority-owned by the Swiss-registered Continental Tobacco Company, and U.S.-based Alliance One Tobacco, were the main active buyers. Last year, the government registered another international buyer, U.S.-based Premiere Leaf, in a bid to get better prices.

Two undisclosed Chinese companies had also been expected to buy the crop this year.

"The competition on the market is working because that is the only reason why we saw good grade tobacco go up to US$11 today for the first time," Tobacco Control Commission General Manager Godfrey Chaponda told Reuters.

President Bingu wa Mutharika, who also farms tobacco, has accused buyers of running a cartel to fix prices but the companies have denied the allegations.

About 2 million of the country's 13 million people depend on tobacco and related industries for their livelihood.

Interview: Malawi And Ex-India Coach Stephen Constantine

After plying his trade in over four continents in the last decade or so, Stephen Constantine is in charge of the Malawi national team. Having a track record of overturning the fortunes of all the teams he has coached, the Englishman is hopeful of positive results with the African nation.

So how has your Malawi sojourn been so far?

It has been a very difficult time I must say, there are a great many problems here on and off the pitch. The players are great and I love working with them. They are keen to improve and remind me a lot of the players in India.

Your team tsted success in its last game against Swaziland. How did it feel to win after a string of recent losses?

Yes it was a good win for us after a run of losses. However, looking back at who we played we lost to four teams that had qualified for the African Cup of Nations; to South Africa on penalties and Senegal, Morocco and Namibia by the odd goal, so the defeats came against top quality opposition.

It would be comparable to India losing to Japan, Iran, South Korea and China by a single goal. Of course I hate losing against anyone but some times we have to look at the opposition and improve on those performances and try and turn them into draws then wins.

You have a friendly coming up against Rwanda. How are preparations going?

We will play Namibia on March 26 , and all games are important , we start preparations on Monday.

Do you think football in Malawi is on the rise? How is the football culture of the nation?

The people here are fantastic and really love football, the passion of the fans is something special. No I don’t think it is on the rise, there are huge problems all across the board, the players lack good facilities and proper coaching. They also don’t get enough international exposure; the administration is also a major concern and a great deal needs to be done if Malawi is going to improve.

Is talent in Malawi similar to other African Nations like Senegal, Nigeria, etc?

There is definitely talent in Malawi but unlike the countries you mentioned, there is no real youth development in Malawi so naturally you're not going to produce the number of players as if had a youth structure. So again no Malawi is not able to compete with those teams just yet.

You were the national coach of India for a few years. What do you think of the just concluded I-League?

Well it's great that India has at last taken football seriously and they can only improve, there still needs to be a lot of work done especially in youth development. You will see India become bigger and better as years go by. The first step is always a difficult one and that step has been taken.

What does India lack in terms of the Asian setting?

Well we have started late so naturally we are behind in many areas, if you look at the Japanese, the Koreans, the Chinese, Iran, Saudi and these countries, they have all had pro leagues for sometime as well as youth development schemes.

The lack of media attention is or was a key factor in non-development and the sponsorship was not there. This started to change in my time there and it is getting better coverage with more company’s looking to football to raise there profile.

Who were the few players who excelled under your reign?

Well most of them are still there,, Climax Lawrence, Mahesh Gawali, Samir Nike, Tomba Singh, Abhishek Yadav, of course Baiching Bhutia so we had a good crop of very determined players.

This issue has long being haunting Indian football - the number of foreign players to be included in a side. Many believe that by having a number of foreign players harms the chances of the Indian ones. Another school of thought suggests that by playing a lot of foreign strikers in the league ensures good defenders...

I had asked for all clubs to have not more then three foreigners but had proposed the idea that for 3-5 years we have no foreign players as the we do not have enough depth or the numbers for the national coach to pick from. This was a problem when I was there and still is. I counted at one point while I was there that out of the 12 teams in the league that there were maybe 24 foreign strikers in the league, and I had maybe four Indian forwards to choose from.

It is common all over the world that teams want to bring in a striker. I know teams want to bring in these players to help them but long term it is a problem for the national team My compromise would be three per team with two to play at any one time. Defenders don’t score goals! And in football you need people who can score so the statement is we will have better defenders is a mute point.

You have spent a lot of your time in Asia. As an Englishman, what do you think of football in Asia in general?

I think it is improving all the time and more players are getting opportunities to play in the European leagues whish is good for Asian football. They are still far behind the number of African players playing in Europe though I think that the physical build of the Africans is more conducive to playing the tough European Leagues.

What are your future plans?

Well you never know in football and so I tend not to make plans, I have ambitions and targets I would like to achieve . You never know I might be back in India one day I did have a good time there and like to think I contributed something to Indian football. They have a great guy in Mr Alberto Colaco who has given everything to make the changes that are needed in Indian football and he and the AIFF are to be commended for this, change is never easy but needed if we are to improve further.