LILONGWE , 6 June 2008 - A major health campaign is underway in Malawi aiming to reach two million children with Vitamin A supplements and de-worming tablets.
Thousands of volunteers and health surveillance assistants across the country’s 28 districts plan to deliver these essential health supplies and educate parents on preventive health care needs.
“It is not acceptable that we still have children dying from malaria, malnutrition, and diarrhoea. This has to end, ” said Health Minister Khumbo Kachali at the official launch of the campaign this week.
Malawi is one of a handful of countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are on course to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing under-five mortality by two-thirds. This campaign is a key strategy to reaching the MDG target by 2015.
Malawi has received international recognition in the last few years for its efforts to reduce under-five mortality, from 221 in 1990 to 120 in 2006.
According to the Malawi Micronutrient Survey, Vitamin A deficiency is prevalent in 59 per cent of pre-school children. Children that lack Vitamin A have decreased resistance to illnesses, are more likely to become blind and suffer from impaired performance in class and in sports.
“The Child Health Campaign is therefore a key strategy to increase the coverage of Vitamin A supplementation and reach every child with this important intervention,” said UNICEF Representative Ms. Aida Girma.
In addition to Vitamin supplementation and deworming, the campaign will focus on behaviour change in areas, such as, infant and young child feeding, improved hygiene, and the use of insecticide treated bed nets.
Friday, 6 June 2008
Soccer-Egypt beat Djibouti 4-0 in World Cup qualifier
African champions Egypt won their second World Cup qualifier inside six days with a comfortable 4-0 away win over Djibouti in their African zone Group 12 match on Friday.
Striker Amr Zaki opened the scoring five minutes before half-time in a match played in searing heat and Egypt doubled their lead soon after the break through midfielder Hosni Abd Rabou.
Egypt extended their lead with two more goals in the next minutes, first from captain Ahmed Hassan and then Ahmed Eid Abdelmalek.
Egypt came from behind to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 in Cairo last Sunday to make a winning start to their bid to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1990.
Djibouti, who lost 8-1 to Malawi last Saturday, have now conceded 12 goals in their two games.
The Congolese host Malawi in Kinshasa on Sunday.
Striker Amr Zaki opened the scoring five minutes before half-time in a match played in searing heat and Egypt doubled their lead soon after the break through midfielder Hosni Abd Rabou.
Egypt extended their lead with two more goals in the next minutes, first from captain Ahmed Hassan and then Ahmed Eid Abdelmalek.
Egypt came from behind to beat the Democratic Republic of Congo 2-1 in Cairo last Sunday to make a winning start to their bid to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time since 1990.
Djibouti, who lost 8-1 to Malawi last Saturday, have now conceded 12 goals in their two games.
The Congolese host Malawi in Kinshasa on Sunday.
Malawi World Cup squad trains in Nairobi
The Malawi national soccer team, en route to DR Congo for this weekend's FIFA World Cup/Africa Cup of Nations qualifier match in Kinshas a, trained in Nairobi on Thursday ahead of their departure Friday.
The Malawians who arrived ion Nairobi on Wednesday evening, trained at the Nyayo National Stadium.
They got off to a powerful start in their Group 12 matches when they clobbered Djibouti 8-1 at the Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi, last weekend.
According to the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) technical director, Patrick Naggi, Malawi will connect their flight in Nairobi because there are no direct comm e rcial flights between Malawi and DR Congo.
Also in Nairobi are Guinea who lock horns with Kenya in a Group Two first leg match at the Nyayo National Stadium, Saturday.
The Malawians who arrived ion Nairobi on Wednesday evening, trained at the Nyayo National Stadium.
They got off to a powerful start in their Group 12 matches when they clobbered Djibouti 8-1 at the Kamuzu Stadium, Blantyre, Malawi, last weekend.
According to the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) technical director, Patrick Naggi, Malawi will connect their flight in Nairobi because there are no direct comm e rcial flights between Malawi and DR Congo.
Also in Nairobi are Guinea who lock horns with Kenya in a Group Two first leg match at the Nyayo National Stadium, Saturday.
Mary's Meals Are Dragging Malawi Out Of Poverty
Entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne Backs Charity To Help Africa's Children
DRAGONS' Den Scot Duncan Bannatyne reckons a small Scots charity holds the key to solving African poverty.
Mary's Meals, which is run from a wooden hut in the Argyll countryside, offers children a meal a day in return for school attendance.
But the scheme has proved such a success since its inception five years ago, that they now feed more than 300,000 children around the world. And entrepreneur Duncan, who is worth more than £300million, believes it could be the answer to Africa's problems.
"Mary's Meals is one of the most fantastic things that has happened in this world for a long time," he said. "It could actually bring Africa out of poverty.
"It is such a simple concept but when I first went to Malawi to see what Mary's Meals do, I could see how well the system worked.
"Getting children fed is the most important thing, but education comes a close second.
"I knew I wanted to help in some way and as soon as I saw what the project was about, I knew that was the one for me.
"I know that the majority of the money is actually going to feed children and as an entrepreneur, I like to see the tangible evidence of where the money is going."
Dad-of-six Duncan, who has set-up his own charity called the Bannatyne Charitable Foundation through which he conduits money to Mary's Meals, supports four schools in Malawi and feeds around 20,000 children every day.
"It works so well that the problem we have is that we have too many children turning up," said Duncan. "We need bigger schools, more teachers and more food.
"When I first went to Malawi the level of poverty shocked me.
People were living in mud huts with nothing to their name. I remember one wee girl who, at just 13, cared for her two younger sisters.
"Their parents were dead and they had nothing but the clothes on their backs. But every day she walked her sisters three miles to school so they could get a meal.
"I remember thinking that if something terrible happened to them and they vanished off the face of the planet, nobody would care.
"They are the kind of people Mary's Meals makes a difference to."
Duncan now travels routinely to Malawi to see just what an impact Mary's Meals has.
And never has he been more aware of the benefits of the scheme than when he travelled there recently to make a documentary for BBC2, due to be shown next month, about how tobacco companies target young children in Africa's poorest nations.
He said: "I was horrified by what I saw. In one school I visited, more than half a class of 11 to 13-year-olds admitted to smoking.
"In Mary's Meals schools, none of the children smoke."
Duncan, who is well-known to be antismoking, was delighted to be asked to front the documentary on how the tobacco companies operate in Africa.
A leading doctor from the World Health Authority predicts that in just eight years' time, more people in Africa will die of smoking-related illnesses than of malaria. Yet tobacco companies seem to be targeting the continent's young children.
Duncan said: "It needs to be stopped. Children out there can buy cigarettes for about one pence.
"The tobacco companies say they haven't deliberately moved in, but I think that's nonsense.
"It also horrified me that the warning on the cigarette packets in Malawi is barely readable. People have no idea what tobacco does to them."
Duncan also travelled to Nigeria and Mauritius to make the documentary.
The poverty levels in Mauritius, a wellknown paradise holiday destination, particularly surprised him.
"There are amazing tourist beaches, but there are incredibly poor areas as well," he said. "Children fall out of school which means they don't learn English. This means they can't get a job in the tourist industry or read the warnings on cigarette packs.
"Children as young as 12 get into prostitution as a way of earning a living and buying cigarettes. And while I know there is no proof, I believe there are worse chemicals in the cigarettes they sell there than there are in the ones you can buy in the UK.
"What I do know is that companies that sell cigarettes with 10mg of tar in them in the UK, sell the same cigarettes with 15mg over in Mauritius."
Duncan got involved with Mary's Meals, which is part of Scottish International Relief, when he met founder Magnus McFarlane-Barrow in Romania a few years ago.
Magnus was in Romania to build an orphanage and Duncan was so impressed, hetold Magnus he would give him the money he needed.
Duncan said: "I had been travelling through Romania and had seen the problems, the children tied to hospital beds and the like.
"But I was impressed by the work Magnus was doing, so I have been supporting his projects ever since."
Duncan might now be one of Scotland's wealthiest men, but he was born into a poverty-stricken family and made his wealth through initially selling ice-creams and then by opening a chain of hotels and health clubs.
He has made it clear that he is not leaving all his cash to his children and intends to do as much charity work as possible before he dies.
He said: "I only became wealthy when I floated on the stock exchange in 1992. Since then I have given away somewhere between two and three million pounds to charity.
"When Magnus asked me to help with Mary's Meals, I just couldn't say no."
The idea for Mary's Meals came to Magnus just six years ago when he was visiting Malawi.
He was visiting a mum-of-six who had AIDS and only had weeks left to live. As she lay with her children around her, she told Magnus all she could do now was pray that someone would look after her children.
Magnus asked the oldest boy what he wanted out of life and his answer was simple - "food and the chance to go to school".
To begin with, Mary's Meals provided food for 200 children in Malawi, where giving one child a meal of the local likuni phala porridge each day for a year costs just £5.30.
They now feed children in 13 of the world's poorest countries including former child soldiers in Liberia, lower caste children in India and street children in the Ukraine.
'I wanted to help and as soon as I saw the project, Iknew that was the one for me'
To make a donation to Mary's Meals call 0800 6981212 or click on www.marysmeals.org
DRAGONS' Den Scot Duncan Bannatyne reckons a small Scots charity holds the key to solving African poverty.
Mary's Meals, which is run from a wooden hut in the Argyll countryside, offers children a meal a day in return for school attendance.
But the scheme has proved such a success since its inception five years ago, that they now feed more than 300,000 children around the world. And entrepreneur Duncan, who is worth more than £300million, believes it could be the answer to Africa's problems.
"Mary's Meals is one of the most fantastic things that has happened in this world for a long time," he said. "It could actually bring Africa out of poverty.
"It is such a simple concept but when I first went to Malawi to see what Mary's Meals do, I could see how well the system worked.
"Getting children fed is the most important thing, but education comes a close second.
"I knew I wanted to help in some way and as soon as I saw what the project was about, I knew that was the one for me.
"I know that the majority of the money is actually going to feed children and as an entrepreneur, I like to see the tangible evidence of where the money is going."
Dad-of-six Duncan, who has set-up his own charity called the Bannatyne Charitable Foundation through which he conduits money to Mary's Meals, supports four schools in Malawi and feeds around 20,000 children every day.
"It works so well that the problem we have is that we have too many children turning up," said Duncan. "We need bigger schools, more teachers and more food.
"When I first went to Malawi the level of poverty shocked me.
People were living in mud huts with nothing to their name. I remember one wee girl who, at just 13, cared for her two younger sisters.
"Their parents were dead and they had nothing but the clothes on their backs. But every day she walked her sisters three miles to school so they could get a meal.
"I remember thinking that if something terrible happened to them and they vanished off the face of the planet, nobody would care.
"They are the kind of people Mary's Meals makes a difference to."
Duncan now travels routinely to Malawi to see just what an impact Mary's Meals has.
And never has he been more aware of the benefits of the scheme than when he travelled there recently to make a documentary for BBC2, due to be shown next month, about how tobacco companies target young children in Africa's poorest nations.
He said: "I was horrified by what I saw. In one school I visited, more than half a class of 11 to 13-year-olds admitted to smoking.
"In Mary's Meals schools, none of the children smoke."
Duncan, who is well-known to be antismoking, was delighted to be asked to front the documentary on how the tobacco companies operate in Africa.
A leading doctor from the World Health Authority predicts that in just eight years' time, more people in Africa will die of smoking-related illnesses than of malaria. Yet tobacco companies seem to be targeting the continent's young children.
Duncan said: "It needs to be stopped. Children out there can buy cigarettes for about one pence.
"The tobacco companies say they haven't deliberately moved in, but I think that's nonsense.
"It also horrified me that the warning on the cigarette packets in Malawi is barely readable. People have no idea what tobacco does to them."
Duncan also travelled to Nigeria and Mauritius to make the documentary.
The poverty levels in Mauritius, a wellknown paradise holiday destination, particularly surprised him.
"There are amazing tourist beaches, but there are incredibly poor areas as well," he said. "Children fall out of school which means they don't learn English. This means they can't get a job in the tourist industry or read the warnings on cigarette packs.
"Children as young as 12 get into prostitution as a way of earning a living and buying cigarettes. And while I know there is no proof, I believe there are worse chemicals in the cigarettes they sell there than there are in the ones you can buy in the UK.
"What I do know is that companies that sell cigarettes with 10mg of tar in them in the UK, sell the same cigarettes with 15mg over in Mauritius."
Duncan got involved with Mary's Meals, which is part of Scottish International Relief, when he met founder Magnus McFarlane-Barrow in Romania a few years ago.
Magnus was in Romania to build an orphanage and Duncan was so impressed, hetold Magnus he would give him the money he needed.
Duncan said: "I had been travelling through Romania and had seen the problems, the children tied to hospital beds and the like.
"But I was impressed by the work Magnus was doing, so I have been supporting his projects ever since."
Duncan might now be one of Scotland's wealthiest men, but he was born into a poverty-stricken family and made his wealth through initially selling ice-creams and then by opening a chain of hotels and health clubs.
He has made it clear that he is not leaving all his cash to his children and intends to do as much charity work as possible before he dies.
He said: "I only became wealthy when I floated on the stock exchange in 1992. Since then I have given away somewhere between two and three million pounds to charity.
"When Magnus asked me to help with Mary's Meals, I just couldn't say no."
The idea for Mary's Meals came to Magnus just six years ago when he was visiting Malawi.
He was visiting a mum-of-six who had AIDS and only had weeks left to live. As she lay with her children around her, she told Magnus all she could do now was pray that someone would look after her children.
Magnus asked the oldest boy what he wanted out of life and his answer was simple - "food and the chance to go to school".
To begin with, Mary's Meals provided food for 200 children in Malawi, where giving one child a meal of the local likuni phala porridge each day for a year costs just £5.30.
They now feed children in 13 of the world's poorest countries including former child soldiers in Liberia, lower caste children in India and street children in the Ukraine.
'I wanted to help and as soon as I saw the project, Iknew that was the one for me'
To make a donation to Mary's Meals call 0800 6981212 or click on www.marysmeals.org
UN summit pledges to ease food crisis as hunger threatens nearly 1 billion
World leaders at a U.N. summit embraced an ambitious strategy to combat a food crisis that is causing violent riots and threatening to push up to a billion people across the globe into hunger.
Delegates from 181 countries pledged Thursday to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural production to combat rising food prices, but some nations and groups maintained more concrete measures will be needed.
After three days of wrangling, delegates at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization approved a declaration resolving to ease the suffering caused by soaring food prices and step up investment in agriculture.
The summit struck a balance on the contentious issue of biofuels, recognizing "challenges and opportunities" in using food for fuel.
The declaration called for swift help for small-holder farmers in poor countries who need seed, fertilizers and animal feed in time for the approaching planting season. U.N. officials and humanitarian groups have pointed out that such an approach has already helped millions of farmers in Malawi, where food security has strongly improved thanks to a support package based mainly on a fertilizer subsidy.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had told the summit that import taxes and export restrictions must also be minimized to alleviate hunger, and the document called for "reducing trade barriers and market-distorting policies."
"We took the measure of the problem of hunger in the world correctly," said FAO head Jacques Diouf. He noted the gathering wasn't a pledging conference but billions of US dollars from countries, regional banks and the World Bank had been promised in recent days.
The strategy laid down in Rome will have to translate quickly into farm and trade policies in each country, as even before the crisis there were some 850 million undernourished people in the world, with the number increasing rapidly, according to U.N. officials.
Soaring fuel prices drive up costs of fertilizers, farm vehicle use and transport of food to market. Speculation and increased consumption of meat and dairy goods by populations of China, India and other booming developing nations is also considered a main factor in the food price hikes.
Some countries felt the Rome summit had not gone far enough.
Argentina said it was unhappy the declaration didn't blame subsidies — generously granted to farmers in the United States, the European Union and other Western food-producers — for a major role in driving up prices.
Monica Robelo Raffone, head of Nicaragua's delegation, contended that the conference had failed to offer solutions or identify the reasons for the price increases.
"It doesn't mention the real causes behind the crisis: the high oil prices, the market speculation, the subsidies ... it's a step back," she said.
But the gathering did win praise from several countries and non-governmental organizations.
"We believe that the commitments and the pledges made here will help us create an African revolution" that will improve technology, training and production in the continent's agriculture, said South Africa's agriculture minister, Lulu Xingwana.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer welcomed the declaration's tone on biofuels, saying the United States remains "firmly committed to the sustainable production and use of biofuels, both domestically and globally."
The biofuel issue was a volatile one at the summit. The summit struck a balance on the fuels, which are made from crops such as sugar cane and corn, saying that "in-depth studies" are necessary to ensure that the environmentally friendly energy source does not take food off the table.
Brazil, the United States and other big producers of biofuels disagree on which crops are better-suited to produce energy and how much they contribute to driving up food prices. U.N. officials, including Ban, have called on the international community to issue guidelines to ensure biofuel crops do not compete with food crops and do not encourage deforestation.
The British aid group Oxfam praised the declaration's focus on increased aid for agriculture and said the agreement in Rome had set concrete measures to combat hunger on the agenda of the July meeting of Group of Eight nations in Japan.
"It would be a mistake to dismiss this summit as a waste of time," said a statement from Barbara Stocking, the organization's director in Britain. "Good ideas in Rome need to be followed by cheques in Japan."
Delegates from 181 countries pledged Thursday to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural production to combat rising food prices, but some nations and groups maintained more concrete measures will be needed.
After three days of wrangling, delegates at the Rome-based U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization approved a declaration resolving to ease the suffering caused by soaring food prices and step up investment in agriculture.
The summit struck a balance on the contentious issue of biofuels, recognizing "challenges and opportunities" in using food for fuel.
The declaration called for swift help for small-holder farmers in poor countries who need seed, fertilizers and animal feed in time for the approaching planting season. U.N. officials and humanitarian groups have pointed out that such an approach has already helped millions of farmers in Malawi, where food security has strongly improved thanks to a support package based mainly on a fertilizer subsidy.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had told the summit that import taxes and export restrictions must also be minimized to alleviate hunger, and the document called for "reducing trade barriers and market-distorting policies."
"We took the measure of the problem of hunger in the world correctly," said FAO head Jacques Diouf. He noted the gathering wasn't a pledging conference but billions of US dollars from countries, regional banks and the World Bank had been promised in recent days.
The strategy laid down in Rome will have to translate quickly into farm and trade policies in each country, as even before the crisis there were some 850 million undernourished people in the world, with the number increasing rapidly, according to U.N. officials.
Soaring fuel prices drive up costs of fertilizers, farm vehicle use and transport of food to market. Speculation and increased consumption of meat and dairy goods by populations of China, India and other booming developing nations is also considered a main factor in the food price hikes.
Some countries felt the Rome summit had not gone far enough.
Argentina said it was unhappy the declaration didn't blame subsidies — generously granted to farmers in the United States, the European Union and other Western food-producers — for a major role in driving up prices.
Monica Robelo Raffone, head of Nicaragua's delegation, contended that the conference had failed to offer solutions or identify the reasons for the price increases.
"It doesn't mention the real causes behind the crisis: the high oil prices, the market speculation, the subsidies ... it's a step back," she said.
But the gathering did win praise from several countries and non-governmental organizations.
"We believe that the commitments and the pledges made here will help us create an African revolution" that will improve technology, training and production in the continent's agriculture, said South Africa's agriculture minister, Lulu Xingwana.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer welcomed the declaration's tone on biofuels, saying the United States remains "firmly committed to the sustainable production and use of biofuels, both domestically and globally."
The biofuel issue was a volatile one at the summit. The summit struck a balance on the fuels, which are made from crops such as sugar cane and corn, saying that "in-depth studies" are necessary to ensure that the environmentally friendly energy source does not take food off the table.
Brazil, the United States and other big producers of biofuels disagree on which crops are better-suited to produce energy and how much they contribute to driving up food prices. U.N. officials, including Ban, have called on the international community to issue guidelines to ensure biofuel crops do not compete with food crops and do not encourage deforestation.
The British aid group Oxfam praised the declaration's focus on increased aid for agriculture and said the agreement in Rome had set concrete measures to combat hunger on the agenda of the July meeting of Group of Eight nations in Japan.
"It would be a mistake to dismiss this summit as a waste of time," said a statement from Barbara Stocking, the organization's director in Britain. "Good ideas in Rome need to be followed by cheques in Japan."
Malawi and Zambia see sharing as key to dealing with electricity shortages
The governments of Malawi and Zambia say they will facilitate more power sharing projects between their power utilities in order to deal with power shortages, which are threatening economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) region.
The Electricity Supply Corpora-tion of Malawi (Escom) and the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (Zesco) already have two power sharing projects in place.
The first, commissioned in 2004, involves Escom supplying power to Zambia’s Lundazi district, while the second, which was commissioned late last month, entails Escom supplying electricity to Zambia’s Chama district.
“I wish to inform that Malawi has the capacity to generate addi- tional hydroelectricity to the tune of 1 500 MW and we are ready to share that power with Zambia,” said Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika at the commissioning of the project to supply power to Chama, late last month.
The event was also attended by Zambia’s President Levy Mwana-wasa.
Wa Mutharika said Malawi was eager to facilitate more cross-boarder electrification projects with Zambia and other neighbouring countries because “such ventures are important for socioeconomic development in the region”.
“The power that our countries derive from these cross-boarder power sharing ventures drives industries and new businesses.”
He added that he hoped that the power-sharing deals with Zambia would complement his government’s efforts to ensure that Malawi’s remote areas were electrified under the multimillion-dollar Malawi Rural Electrification Programme.
Mwanawasa commented that his government was ready to facilitate the implementation of more power- sharing ventures because they were an important way to deal with the power shortages that the whole SADC region was facing.
“If the power shortages rocking Zambia and the whole SADC region are not urgently addressed through the prompt implementation of new generation and transmission projects, the economies of Zambia and the SADC will be constrained,” he said.
His government had shelved plans to privatise Zesco because it felt the move would hamper its plans to ensure the electrification of rural areas, he added.
Malawi’s Energy and Mines Minister, Ted Kalebe, said Malawi was happy to be taking part in the development of Zambia by exporting power to Chama and Lundazi, and Zesco board chairperson Wamundila Mlowokela commented that the development was important in regional integration.
Malawi is pursuing a project to start importing electricity from Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power scheme.
The World Bank has already approved loans to both Malawi and Mozambique for the project, but the Malawian Parliament is yet to pass a Bill to authorise government to acquire the funds, owing to the prevailing wrangles between the opposition and government benches over an antidefection law, which is affecting progress in Parliament.
Wa Mutharika, who ditched the United Democratic Front (UDF) to form his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), risks losing a majority of Members of Parliament who followed him from the UDF to the DPP, if the antidefection law is implemented.
The Electricity Supply Corpora-tion of Malawi (Escom) and the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (Zesco) already have two power sharing projects in place.
The first, commissioned in 2004, involves Escom supplying power to Zambia’s Lundazi district, while the second, which was commissioned late last month, entails Escom supplying electricity to Zambia’s Chama district.
“I wish to inform that Malawi has the capacity to generate addi- tional hydroelectricity to the tune of 1 500 MW and we are ready to share that power with Zambia,” said Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika at the commissioning of the project to supply power to Chama, late last month.
The event was also attended by Zambia’s President Levy Mwana-wasa.
Wa Mutharika said Malawi was eager to facilitate more cross-boarder electrification projects with Zambia and other neighbouring countries because “such ventures are important for socioeconomic development in the region”.
“The power that our countries derive from these cross-boarder power sharing ventures drives industries and new businesses.”
He added that he hoped that the power-sharing deals with Zambia would complement his government’s efforts to ensure that Malawi’s remote areas were electrified under the multimillion-dollar Malawi Rural Electrification Programme.
Mwanawasa commented that his government was ready to facilitate the implementation of more power- sharing ventures because they were an important way to deal with the power shortages that the whole SADC region was facing.
“If the power shortages rocking Zambia and the whole SADC region are not urgently addressed through the prompt implementation of new generation and transmission projects, the economies of Zambia and the SADC will be constrained,” he said.
His government had shelved plans to privatise Zesco because it felt the move would hamper its plans to ensure the electrification of rural areas, he added.
Malawi’s Energy and Mines Minister, Ted Kalebe, said Malawi was happy to be taking part in the development of Zambia by exporting power to Chama and Lundazi, and Zesco board chairperson Wamundila Mlowokela commented that the development was important in regional integration.
Malawi is pursuing a project to start importing electricity from Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power scheme.
The World Bank has already approved loans to both Malawi and Mozambique for the project, but the Malawian Parliament is yet to pass a Bill to authorise government to acquire the funds, owing to the prevailing wrangles between the opposition and government benches over an antidefection law, which is affecting progress in Parliament.
Wa Mutharika, who ditched the United Democratic Front (UDF) to form his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), risks losing a majority of Members of Parliament who followed him from the UDF to the DPP, if the antidefection law is implemented.
Malawi moves to scale-up jatropha-based biodiesel industry
The Malawi government is facilitating the implementation of a number of private-sector-driven projects to set up biodiesel production plants in the country as part of a multimillion-dollar programme meant to ensure that the country diversifies from its overdependence on fossil fuels as a source of energy.
The director of energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Charles Kafumba, says progress made far on a number of projects indicates that Malawi should start producing biodiesel in 2009.
"The biodiesel programme is based on an energy plantation called jatropha, which takes about a year to start producing fruits. Under the programme, a number of jatropha plantations have been set up in a number of areas. We should expect fuel production from the plants to start next year," says Kafumba.
He adds that government is prioritising production of biofuels from jatropha because the plant is rated more highly than maize and rice as far as oil production is concerned.
Jatropha yields over 2 000 bbl of oil from each square mile planted a year, which is greater than maize's 200 bbl and rice's 1 000 bbl.
After oil product, the residue can be processed into biomass to power electricity.
The plant, which is resistant to drought and pests, is also known for increasing soil fertility, soil making it suitable for growing food crops in subsequent years, says Kafumba.
He adds that the companies that are at an advanced stage in the process to start production of biodiesel from jatropha include a consortium comprising Netherlands-based TNT Group and some African investors, which is reportedly preparing to set up a $12-million biodisel production plant in the capital, Lilongwe.
Kafumba says the adoption of biofuels as a major source of energy will assist the impoverished African nation to avert the impact of rising global oil prices.
Malawi's Department of Science and Technology, in liaison with the government-owned Lilongwe Technical College, is experimenting on the use of cane ethanol to drive vehicles in place of petrol.
The first phase of the experiments, the final results of which are expected in mid-2009, used an old Mitsubishi Pajero that was modified to run on 100% ethanol. The Pajero underwent two tests in which it was ethanol-driven for a total distance of 2 110 km at an average speed of 110 km/h.
"The results proved that the Pajero can be driven using 100% ethanol," says Department of Science and Technology director Henry Mbeza.
The project team is currently working on the second phase of the experiments, which involves testing a flexi-fuel vehicle that has been imported from Brazil by Ethanol Company of Malawi (Ethco), which is privately owned.
Ethco, which is a major producer and exporter of cane ethanol in Malawi, also supplies the ethanol to the project.
The Brazilian-made Ford is designed to run on 100% ethanol or 100% petrol or any mixture of ethanol and petrol in a single tank.
Mbeza says that, in the second phase, the research team will collecting data on vehicle performance when using two of the fuels separately or in different proportions.
Malawi already blends its petrol with 10% ethanol at its refineries and hopes that the results of the experiments will allow it to use more of the locally produced cane ethanol, a significant proportion of which is exported.
Malawi, which is among the major sugar producers in the region, has two ethanol producing plants owned by Ethco and Press Cane, with a combined capacity of 18-million litres a year.
Brazil has offered to provide technical assistance to Malawi and other developing nations in their quest to promote the use of biofuels as an alternative source of energy.
"It is interesting that Brazil is a role model for countries like Malawi. In Brazil, we have reached the extent whereby filling stations have three pumps – for petrol, diesel and ethanol," says Brazil's ambassador-designate to Malawi, Raul Taunay, who attended the launching ceremony of the second phase of the experiments.
The director of energy at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Charles Kafumba, says progress made far on a number of projects indicates that Malawi should start producing biodiesel in 2009.
"The biodiesel programme is based on an energy plantation called jatropha, which takes about a year to start producing fruits. Under the programme, a number of jatropha plantations have been set up in a number of areas. We should expect fuel production from the plants to start next year," says Kafumba.
He adds that government is prioritising production of biofuels from jatropha because the plant is rated more highly than maize and rice as far as oil production is concerned.
Jatropha yields over 2 000 bbl of oil from each square mile planted a year, which is greater than maize's 200 bbl and rice's 1 000 bbl.
After oil product, the residue can be processed into biomass to power electricity.
The plant, which is resistant to drought and pests, is also known for increasing soil fertility, soil making it suitable for growing food crops in subsequent years, says Kafumba.
He adds that the companies that are at an advanced stage in the process to start production of biodiesel from jatropha include a consortium comprising Netherlands-based TNT Group and some African investors, which is reportedly preparing to set up a $12-million biodisel production plant in the capital, Lilongwe.
Kafumba says the adoption of biofuels as a major source of energy will assist the impoverished African nation to avert the impact of rising global oil prices.
Malawi's Department of Science and Technology, in liaison with the government-owned Lilongwe Technical College, is experimenting on the use of cane ethanol to drive vehicles in place of petrol.
The first phase of the experiments, the final results of which are expected in mid-2009, used an old Mitsubishi Pajero that was modified to run on 100% ethanol. The Pajero underwent two tests in which it was ethanol-driven for a total distance of 2 110 km at an average speed of 110 km/h.
"The results proved that the Pajero can be driven using 100% ethanol," says Department of Science and Technology director Henry Mbeza.
The project team is currently working on the second phase of the experiments, which involves testing a flexi-fuel vehicle that has been imported from Brazil by Ethanol Company of Malawi (Ethco), which is privately owned.
Ethco, which is a major producer and exporter of cane ethanol in Malawi, also supplies the ethanol to the project.
The Brazilian-made Ford is designed to run on 100% ethanol or 100% petrol or any mixture of ethanol and petrol in a single tank.
Mbeza says that, in the second phase, the research team will collecting data on vehicle performance when using two of the fuels separately or in different proportions.
Malawi already blends its petrol with 10% ethanol at its refineries and hopes that the results of the experiments will allow it to use more of the locally produced cane ethanol, a significant proportion of which is exported.
Malawi, which is among the major sugar producers in the region, has two ethanol producing plants owned by Ethco and Press Cane, with a combined capacity of 18-million litres a year.
Brazil has offered to provide technical assistance to Malawi and other developing nations in their quest to promote the use of biofuels as an alternative source of energy.
"It is interesting that Brazil is a role model for countries like Malawi. In Brazil, we have reached the extent whereby filling stations have three pumps – for petrol, diesel and ethanol," says Brazil's ambassador-designate to Malawi, Raul Taunay, who attended the launching ceremony of the second phase of the experiments.
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