Malawi High Court is hearing a case of a Tanzanian national, Tadeo Mac’osano, charged with conducting medical trials on HIV positive patients with Kaposi’s sarcoma.
Mac’osano was arrested two weeks ago but was later released on bail.
According to police, Mac’osano, a health worker at St Luke's Hospital in the southern region district of Zomba, is alleged to have been carrying out medical tests on 20 cancerous HIV patients, leading to the death of six.
Zomba police public relations officer, Thomeck Nyaude, said that investigations were underway to establish claims that the six died as a result of the tests, in which the suspect is alleged to have used unapproved medical treatments.
If found guilty, Mac’osano may serve seven years in prison or would be sentenced to life imprisonment. More charges are likely to follow from concerned families.
Mac’osano has pleaded not guilty to contravening Malawi's Pharmacy Medicine and Poison Board (MPMPB) regulations. MPMPB is a government body which regulates drug use and supply and clinical tests on human beings.
MPMPB say the trials conducted by Mac’osano were not approved by government as required by law.
Friday, 31 October 2008
Growth through Trade – Malawi’s Hope for Poverty Reduction
Malawi has a better chance than ever before to accelerate economic growth! A team of development partners and the Government are collaborating in carrying out analytical work to establish a basis for policy options that will help Malawi build on recent gains in growth and economic management. These policy recommendations for economic growth will be delivered early in 2009 in what is called a Country Economic Memorandum (CEM).
Since 2006 Malawi has had remarkable growth rates averaging 7.5 per cent, compared to an average of about three percent during the early years of the decade. The projection for 2008 is for 8.7 percent growth. Growth is good. It increases wealth and income, which in turn help alleviate poverty.
The team of development partners working on the CEM includes the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the World Bank (WB). The Ministry of Finance is leading Government teams in the CEM work, with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and the Reserve Bank of Malawi as key local partners.
“The overarching focus of the CEM will be on providing advice on putting in place a policy and institutional environment collaborated with supportive expenditure programs that will enable the continuation and even acceleration of the current strong growth momentum through trade,” says Jos Verbeek, the World Bank’s lead economist for Malawi.
To achieve its objective, the CEM will review the current sources of growth, the policy actions that led to the growth, and the role that trade has played. It will also suggest how the current growth can be sustained through either intensifying what is already happening or diversifying the sources of growth.
Growth is the most desirable source of additional public resources. Given that how government spends these additional resources is important for growth, the CEM will also provide useful insights to the Government and other interested partners on how best to use any additional revenue to sustain if not accelerate Malawi's growth spurt.
Government is looking forward to the CEM. “It will help us further operationalize the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy by assisting with the prioritization of those policy actions and expenditure programs that will have the biggest impact on growth, and hence poverty reduction,” said Randson Mwadiwa, secretary to the treasury
at the Ministry of Finance.
Growth through trade
The CEM is aptly titled Seizing Opportunities for Growth through Trade.
The Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) (2006-2011) aspires for the transformation of the economy, from being predominantly importing and consuming, to being predominantly manufacturing and exporting. Trade is key to the fulfillment of this vision. Trading and retailing activities account for a significant part of the distribution sector. It is estimated that approximately 22 percent of Malawi's GDP comes from the distribution sector. For Malawi to sustain high growth rates, it will have to trade more.
“We believe the way out of poverty is through growth and trade,” says Lucia Hanmer, a DFID senior economic advisor. “Successful strategies for growth and trade are ones that are attuned to country circumstances.”
So, in order to recommend what can help Malawi’s growth improve and be more sustainable through trade, the CEM team will focus on establishing the extent of potential for Malawi to expand its non-traditional exports, and identifying the constraints that need to be removed in order to exploit this potential. The hypothesis is that market access might not be a binding constraint, given that Malawi is currently not fully utilizing existing preferential trade arrangements. Therefore, Malawi needs to look at other factors that could be preventing expansion of non-traditional exports, such as production related constraints (including lack of scale economies, inability to meet quality standards, energy constraints) and marketing costs (including high transportation costs, border related costs, and limited information about available markets). Further, given the long distances to Malawi’s overseas markets, trade with regional partners will be critical.
The role of infrastructure
Key to trade is transport infrastructure. The MGDS recognises that Malawi’s poor infrastructure limits the country’s productivity and affects internal and external trade efficiency. At 53 percent of export value in 2007, transport costs remain high compared to other countries in the region.
“Reducing trade logistic cost inside as well as outside Malawi's border is critical to bring down the high trade logistic cost of Malawi's exports and make Malawi more competitive regionally as well as globally,” says Joao Mabombo, the AfDB’s infrastructure specialist.
The CEM will outline the status of internal and regional transport infrastructure within the development corridor framework, and identify key constraints in the transport sector that if addressed can spur economic growth. Using GPS technology, the CEM team is also identifying where in Malawi public investment could have the biggest impact on private activities and thus, growth.
Agriculture as a key sector driving growth
Agriculture generates over 90 percent of export earnings and 35-40 percent of GDP in Malawi. It is the main source of livelihood for the majority of Malawians, most of who are smallholder farmers living in rural areas. A preliminary analysis of the sources of growth shows that agriculture has been one of the main drivers of high real growth rates registered since 2006, although much of this growth represents a re-bounding of the sector’s performance following a severe drought in 2005. The analysis further shows that productivity in the sector remains low which implies that there is still great potential for agriculture to continue driving growth in Malawi. The sector is therefore receiving particular attention in the CEM work.
In 2007, the main agricultural commodities with positive volume growth were tobacco (53 percent), sugar (nine percent), tea (nine percent), cotton (three percent) and edible nuts (four percent). The CEM will assess the country’s competitiveness in key agricultural commodities so as to provide evidence on the potential investments and policies needed to improve and sustain higher growth in the sector. Two complementary analytical approaches are being used to achieve this: (i) quantitative value-chain analysis of selected commodities (ii) a detailed constraint analysis to identify key challenges affecting Malawi’s agricultural competitiveness.
Partnership behind CEM
In the spirit of the Paris Declaration, development partners are collaborating on the CEM.
“Working together is helping to build a shared understanding of what constrains growth in Malawi,” said DFID’s Growth Team Leader David Woolnough. “Supporting the government, we can use this knowledge to support future growth and ensure the economy goes from strength to strength.”
The development partners are so far applauding the collaboration as being highly positive in bringing together thinking and ideas from a number of individuals with different experience and skills, particularly around new approaches to growth and growth diagnostics.
“We do not believe in duplicating efforts, but in taking advantage of the pool of knowledge that is available here and abroad,” said the MCC’s Alex Gomani.
The experts from the donor institutions are partnering in producing the key sections of the CEM according to their expertise. DFID and the World Bank are working on the first section on general economic environment supportive of growth. All the partners are contributing to the second section on general cross-cutting economic policies to broaden and sustain economic growth; as well as analyzing issues of trade (WB, DFID, AfDB), infrastructure (WB, AfDB), and the financial sector (WB, RBM) in a growing economy. The third section looks at the most promising sectors that can broaden growth mainly agriculture and other high potential sectors such as agro-processing and manufacturing in general (WB). The final section will analyze how all the issues raised in the different sections fit together in order to make policy and strategy recommendations to the Government on how it can sustain and build on the current growth momentum.
Since 2006 Malawi has had remarkable growth rates averaging 7.5 per cent, compared to an average of about three percent during the early years of the decade. The projection for 2008 is for 8.7 percent growth. Growth is good. It increases wealth and income, which in turn help alleviate poverty.
The team of development partners working on the CEM includes the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the World Bank (WB). The Ministry of Finance is leading Government teams in the CEM work, with the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and the Reserve Bank of Malawi as key local partners.
“The overarching focus of the CEM will be on providing advice on putting in place a policy and institutional environment collaborated with supportive expenditure programs that will enable the continuation and even acceleration of the current strong growth momentum through trade,” says Jos Verbeek, the World Bank’s lead economist for Malawi.
To achieve its objective, the CEM will review the current sources of growth, the policy actions that led to the growth, and the role that trade has played. It will also suggest how the current growth can be sustained through either intensifying what is already happening or diversifying the sources of growth.
Growth is the most desirable source of additional public resources. Given that how government spends these additional resources is important for growth, the CEM will also provide useful insights to the Government and other interested partners on how best to use any additional revenue to sustain if not accelerate Malawi's growth spurt.
Government is looking forward to the CEM. “It will help us further operationalize the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy by assisting with the prioritization of those policy actions and expenditure programs that will have the biggest impact on growth, and hence poverty reduction,” said Randson Mwadiwa, secretary to the treasury
at the Ministry of Finance.
Growth through trade
The CEM is aptly titled Seizing Opportunities for Growth through Trade.
The Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) (2006-2011) aspires for the transformation of the economy, from being predominantly importing and consuming, to being predominantly manufacturing and exporting. Trade is key to the fulfillment of this vision. Trading and retailing activities account for a significant part of the distribution sector. It is estimated that approximately 22 percent of Malawi's GDP comes from the distribution sector. For Malawi to sustain high growth rates, it will have to trade more.
“We believe the way out of poverty is through growth and trade,” says Lucia Hanmer, a DFID senior economic advisor. “Successful strategies for growth and trade are ones that are attuned to country circumstances.”
So, in order to recommend what can help Malawi’s growth improve and be more sustainable through trade, the CEM team will focus on establishing the extent of potential for Malawi to expand its non-traditional exports, and identifying the constraints that need to be removed in order to exploit this potential. The hypothesis is that market access might not be a binding constraint, given that Malawi is currently not fully utilizing existing preferential trade arrangements. Therefore, Malawi needs to look at other factors that could be preventing expansion of non-traditional exports, such as production related constraints (including lack of scale economies, inability to meet quality standards, energy constraints) and marketing costs (including high transportation costs, border related costs, and limited information about available markets). Further, given the long distances to Malawi’s overseas markets, trade with regional partners will be critical.
The role of infrastructure
Key to trade is transport infrastructure. The MGDS recognises that Malawi’s poor infrastructure limits the country’s productivity and affects internal and external trade efficiency. At 53 percent of export value in 2007, transport costs remain high compared to other countries in the region.
“Reducing trade logistic cost inside as well as outside Malawi's border is critical to bring down the high trade logistic cost of Malawi's exports and make Malawi more competitive regionally as well as globally,” says Joao Mabombo, the AfDB’s infrastructure specialist.
The CEM will outline the status of internal and regional transport infrastructure within the development corridor framework, and identify key constraints in the transport sector that if addressed can spur economic growth. Using GPS technology, the CEM team is also identifying where in Malawi public investment could have the biggest impact on private activities and thus, growth.
Agriculture as a key sector driving growth
Agriculture generates over 90 percent of export earnings and 35-40 percent of GDP in Malawi. It is the main source of livelihood for the majority of Malawians, most of who are smallholder farmers living in rural areas. A preliminary analysis of the sources of growth shows that agriculture has been one of the main drivers of high real growth rates registered since 2006, although much of this growth represents a re-bounding of the sector’s performance following a severe drought in 2005. The analysis further shows that productivity in the sector remains low which implies that there is still great potential for agriculture to continue driving growth in Malawi. The sector is therefore receiving particular attention in the CEM work.
In 2007, the main agricultural commodities with positive volume growth were tobacco (53 percent), sugar (nine percent), tea (nine percent), cotton (three percent) and edible nuts (four percent). The CEM will assess the country’s competitiveness in key agricultural commodities so as to provide evidence on the potential investments and policies needed to improve and sustain higher growth in the sector. Two complementary analytical approaches are being used to achieve this: (i) quantitative value-chain analysis of selected commodities (ii) a detailed constraint analysis to identify key challenges affecting Malawi’s agricultural competitiveness.
Partnership behind CEM
In the spirit of the Paris Declaration, development partners are collaborating on the CEM.
“Working together is helping to build a shared understanding of what constrains growth in Malawi,” said DFID’s Growth Team Leader David Woolnough. “Supporting the government, we can use this knowledge to support future growth and ensure the economy goes from strength to strength.”
The development partners are so far applauding the collaboration as being highly positive in bringing together thinking and ideas from a number of individuals with different experience and skills, particularly around new approaches to growth and growth diagnostics.
“We do not believe in duplicating efforts, but in taking advantage of the pool of knowledge that is available here and abroad,” said the MCC’s Alex Gomani.
The experts from the donor institutions are partnering in producing the key sections of the CEM according to their expertise. DFID and the World Bank are working on the first section on general economic environment supportive of growth. All the partners are contributing to the second section on general cross-cutting economic policies to broaden and sustain economic growth; as well as analyzing issues of trade (WB, DFID, AfDB), infrastructure (WB, AfDB), and the financial sector (WB, RBM) in a growing economy. The third section looks at the most promising sectors that can broaden growth mainly agriculture and other high potential sectors such as agro-processing and manufacturing in general (WB). The final section will analyze how all the issues raised in the different sections fit together in order to make policy and strategy recommendations to the Government on how it can sustain and build on the current growth momentum.
From Motherwell to Malawi - but to do what?
A few weeks ago, Gordon Brown appointed former first minister, Jack McConnell MSP, as a Special Envoy for Conflict Resolution – provoking accusations that the move was "blatant political manipulation" to avoid the possibility of a by-election defeat in McConnell's Motherwell and Wishaw seat.
The idea had originally been to appoint McConnell as the High Commissioner in Malawi - which would have sparked a by-election. Instead, the Scottish politician will have a non-resident, part-time role as a special envoy for the Prime Minister.
But what his exact job will be apparently remains unclear and the subject of some debate across Whitehall. There is no reference to the appointment – or Mr. McConnell’s terms of reference – on the No. 10 website.
The newspapers originally hailed the job as a “Special Envoy for Africa” – the role most people thought Lord Malloch Brown was brought into government to fill – but McConnell himself clearly understood his remit to be broader. When appointed, he said he was “the Prime Minister’s special representative on conflict resolution mechanisms” and went on to say his work “could be in Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda or Bosnia, for example.”
Though with new Defence Secretary John Hutton taking the lead on Afghan policy, Mr. McConnell’s role there will clearly be limited. Nor is it clear that a politician without a seat in either Houses of Parliament, and with little political clout, will be able to make a difference to policy anyway. It may be worth considering the appointment of a Cabinet-level Minister for Afghanistan – given the size of Britain’s commitment there – but for such a role to work it would need to be held by an expert or a senior figure, like Lord David Hannay.
So there is still little clarity about Mr. McConnell’s role. Former Foreign Office Minister Jim Murphy tried to be helpful, saying : "I worked in the Foreign Office and Jack is going to be working on some big issues the Foreign Office deals with – conflict prevention, conflict reconstruction.” But if the Scottish Secretary knows what Mr McConnell’s role is he would do well to inform the Cabinet Office, DfiD and the FCO, who are all said to be in the dark.
Perhaps things will become clearer when Tory MP Mark Lancaster gets an answer to his parliamentary question of whom the cross-governmental Stabilisation Unit answers to besides DfiD Minister Michael Forster. Until this is cleared up, the Prime Minister’s appointment of Mr. McConnell bears all the hallmarks of his earlier appointment of Lord Malloch Brown to a Foreign Office job. There, too, lack of clarity over the exact remit came to haunt the PM and the job-holder.
The idea had originally been to appoint McConnell as the High Commissioner in Malawi - which would have sparked a by-election. Instead, the Scottish politician will have a non-resident, part-time role as a special envoy for the Prime Minister.
But what his exact job will be apparently remains unclear and the subject of some debate across Whitehall. There is no reference to the appointment – or Mr. McConnell’s terms of reference – on the No. 10 website.
The newspapers originally hailed the job as a “Special Envoy for Africa” – the role most people thought Lord Malloch Brown was brought into government to fill – but McConnell himself clearly understood his remit to be broader. When appointed, he said he was “the Prime Minister’s special representative on conflict resolution mechanisms” and went on to say his work “could be in Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda or Bosnia, for example.”
Though with new Defence Secretary John Hutton taking the lead on Afghan policy, Mr. McConnell’s role there will clearly be limited. Nor is it clear that a politician without a seat in either Houses of Parliament, and with little political clout, will be able to make a difference to policy anyway. It may be worth considering the appointment of a Cabinet-level Minister for Afghanistan – given the size of Britain’s commitment there – but for such a role to work it would need to be held by an expert or a senior figure, like Lord David Hannay.
So there is still little clarity about Mr. McConnell’s role. Former Foreign Office Minister Jim Murphy tried to be helpful, saying : "I worked in the Foreign Office and Jack is going to be working on some big issues the Foreign Office deals with – conflict prevention, conflict reconstruction.” But if the Scottish Secretary knows what Mr McConnell’s role is he would do well to inform the Cabinet Office, DfiD and the FCO, who are all said to be in the dark.
Perhaps things will become clearer when Tory MP Mark Lancaster gets an answer to his parliamentary question of whom the cross-governmental Stabilisation Unit answers to besides DfiD Minister Michael Forster. Until this is cleared up, the Prime Minister’s appointment of Mr. McConnell bears all the hallmarks of his earlier appointment of Lord Malloch Brown to a Foreign Office job. There, too, lack of clarity over the exact remit came to haunt the PM and the job-holder.
UAE non Resident Ambassador to Malawi presents credentials to Malawian President
UAE Ambassador to Tanzania, UAE non Resident Ambassador to Malawi Mallallah Mubarak Suwaid Al A'meri, has presented his credentials to Malawian President Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, here at the Presidential Palace.
Al A'meri conveyed the regards of President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the Malawian President, who in return conveyed his regards to Sheikh Khalifa through the UAE Envoy.
The Malawian President lauded the diplomatic relations with the UAE.
Al A'meri conveyed the regards of President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the Malawian President, who in return conveyed his regards to Sheikh Khalifa through the UAE Envoy.
The Malawian President lauded the diplomatic relations with the UAE.
Malawi’s ruling party dismisses party boss
Malawi’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has fired its Secretary General, Dr. Heatherwick Ntaba, for unexplained reasons, only saying that his dismissal was an internal party affair, APA learnt here Friday.
Ntaba, a trained medical doctor, has been replaced by Transport and Public Works Minister, Henry Chimunthu Banda, with immediate effect, the DPP office said, without specifying if the former party boss had been given another portfolio in DPP.
Confirming his appointment, Banda said the National Governing Council (NGC) of the DPP and its leader, President Bingu Wa Mutharika, were pleased to have him fill the post of Secretary General (SG) of the party left vacant by the controversial Ntaba, who began his political career in the former ruling Malawi Congress Party of the late president and founder of the Malawi Nation, Kamuzu Banda, who died in 1997.
"It is true that I have taken the position of the Secretary General of our party from now onwards. This has come after the senior members met and resolved this," Banda said.
He said the former SG, who doubles as President Mutharika’s Chief Political Advisor, would be considered for other duties and portfolios within the party.
Ntaba, following his departure from the MCP, he formed his own party called the National Congress for Democracy (NCD) before joining another ruling party, the United Democratic Front (UDF), before finding his way to the Democratic Progressive Party.
Ntaba, a trained medical doctor, has been replaced by Transport and Public Works Minister, Henry Chimunthu Banda, with immediate effect, the DPP office said, without specifying if the former party boss had been given another portfolio in DPP.
Confirming his appointment, Banda said the National Governing Council (NGC) of the DPP and its leader, President Bingu Wa Mutharika, were pleased to have him fill the post of Secretary General (SG) of the party left vacant by the controversial Ntaba, who began his political career in the former ruling Malawi Congress Party of the late president and founder of the Malawi Nation, Kamuzu Banda, who died in 1997.
"It is true that I have taken the position of the Secretary General of our party from now onwards. This has come after the senior members met and resolved this," Banda said.
He said the former SG, who doubles as President Mutharika’s Chief Political Advisor, would be considered for other duties and portfolios within the party.
Ntaba, following his departure from the MCP, he formed his own party called the National Congress for Democracy (NCD) before joining another ruling party, the United Democratic Front (UDF), before finding his way to the Democratic Progressive Party.
Scotland to increase aid to Malawi’s development
Scottish External Affairs Minister Linda Fabiani on Friday said that her country was committed to increasing aid to Malawi to fight rampant poverty in the country.
Spelling this out in Lilongwe, Fabiani said her Scottish government would spend 2.26 million pounds sterling to aid Malawi’s development projects this year alone.
"The aid focuses on projects that foster economic growth and help Malawi grow and prosper," she said.
The funding includes financing work to improve land management and provide renewable sources of energy in villages, to build on work with street children and orphans and to help vulnerable people affected with IV/AIDS.
Malawi and Scotland signed partnership agreement in 2005.
Spelling this out in Lilongwe, Fabiani said her Scottish government would spend 2.26 million pounds sterling to aid Malawi’s development projects this year alone.
"The aid focuses on projects that foster economic growth and help Malawi grow and prosper," she said.
The funding includes financing work to improve land management and provide renewable sources of energy in villages, to build on work with street children and orphans and to help vulnerable people affected with IV/AIDS.
Malawi and Scotland signed partnership agreement in 2005.
Malawi: Food Security Update, Sept 2008
The country remains generally food secure, as households continue to depend on own–produced food from last season's harvest. Households that did not produce enough food this season, however, are currently moderately food insecure or at risk of food insecurity, given that they must rely on the markets at a time of high maize prices this season. This is particularly the case in many parts of the southern region, where some areas experienced crop production failure due to unfavorable weather conditions (Figure 1).
Most households are busy preparing their fields in preparation for the 2008/09 agricultural season. The season starts in October and ends in March, beginning in the south and progressing northward, with land preparation following this progression as well. To help boost agricultural production and improve food security, the government's seeds and fertilizer inputs subsidy program is currently underway and on–target to arrive prior to the planting rains in early November.
In contrast to previous months, a majority of local markets recorded a decline in maize prices in September. The decline is partly attributed to the government's decision to fix a maximum maize selling price of MK52/kg. At the same time, this decline does not reflect the seasonal pattern, when maize prices normally begin rising as households exhaust their supplies and market demand increases with the approaching hunger season (December to February).
The volume of informal cross–border trade in maize dropped significantly in the past month, from 8,540 MT in August to 2,185 MT in September, or about 67 percent. The government's ban on the large–scale, private trade of maize, as well as the seasonal decline in tradable stocks in source countries, are likely factors behind this decrease.
Most households are busy preparing their fields in preparation for the 2008/09 agricultural season. The season starts in October and ends in March, beginning in the south and progressing northward, with land preparation following this progression as well. To help boost agricultural production and improve food security, the government's seeds and fertilizer inputs subsidy program is currently underway and on–target to arrive prior to the planting rains in early November.
In contrast to previous months, a majority of local markets recorded a decline in maize prices in September. The decline is partly attributed to the government's decision to fix a maximum maize selling price of MK52/kg. At the same time, this decline does not reflect the seasonal pattern, when maize prices normally begin rising as households exhaust their supplies and market demand increases with the approaching hunger season (December to February).
The volume of informal cross–border trade in maize dropped significantly in the past month, from 8,540 MT in August to 2,185 MT in September, or about 67 percent. The government's ban on the large–scale, private trade of maize, as well as the seasonal decline in tradable stocks in source countries, are likely factors behind this decrease.
Uganda should emulate Malawi for faster economic growth
It is heartening to learn that Ugandan leaders joined their Kenyan, Tanzanian and Swazi counterparts who have gone to Malawi over the past three months to learn how the poor southern African country defied donors three years ago and subsidised its farmers whose response was the doubling of maize production in one year.
In retrospect, it seems incredible any half-competent economic policy-maker could have a country as poor as Malawi not to give subsidies to its farmers at a time when entire population was facing mass starvation. But the donors, led by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did exactly that at a time when the country needed to import 400,000 tonnes of maize.
Malawians’ plight was made worse by its having to import all its needs through South African ports, railways and road networks which the country shared with its other land-locked neighbors, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Fortunately for Malawi, its President Mbingu wa Mutharika had worked with the Washington-based Bretton Woods institutions – the World Bank and the IMF—long enough to know their lack of understanding of African problems although this did not stop them from writing prescriptions and demanding that they be followed to the letter or else.
When Malawi refused to toe the then economic orthodoxy that the peasant farmers be left at the mercy of free market forces, the donors walked away. But three years later, after first dismissing incontrovertible evidence that the subsidies had enabled farmers to increase their production to 3.6 million tones, more than double the country’s requirement of 1.6 million tonnes, the donors are going back to Malawi.
The lesson here for Uganda and other African countries that have suffered unnecessarily because of heeding donors’ advice to free up the markets and get out of business, is that they take a second look and see what sectors of the economy would be better served by the state’s involvement.
Those countries that have not completed a wholesale sell-off of public assets should also reflect on the fact that the developed countries that supported the free market doctrine most vocally are today competing on who will buy a greater stake in their countries’ financial sector.
In Uganda, the argument should not be on whether the government should subsidise farmers or get involved in industry or any other business but on how best it can do so to ensure that tax-payers get the best value for their money. Perhaps, this soul searching could result in the government kick-starting agro-business that would add value to local agricultural produce before exporting them to the regional and global markets.
This would be undoubtedly better than waiting for private investors mainly from the industrialised countries many of whom seem more interested in the incentives they get from government, such as free land, than in setting up sustainable industries and businesses.
The result is that some of these fly-by-night carpet-baggers sell off the land as soon as they get their hands on the title deed. Other brief-case investors are more interested in taking advantage of their employees poverty by paying them slave-wages and forcing them to work in appalling conditions.
Yes, the Malawi experience should lead to a re-think of every policy that has been imposed from Washington and other industrialised world capitals over the past four decades. After all, instead of these policies making the majority of the population richer even in countries like Kenya where there were no civil wars during the period they became poorer and increased the gap between the rich minority and the poor majority.
In retrospect, it seems incredible any half-competent economic policy-maker could have a country as poor as Malawi not to give subsidies to its farmers at a time when entire population was facing mass starvation. But the donors, led by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) did exactly that at a time when the country needed to import 400,000 tonnes of maize.
Malawians’ plight was made worse by its having to import all its needs through South African ports, railways and road networks which the country shared with its other land-locked neighbors, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Fortunately for Malawi, its President Mbingu wa Mutharika had worked with the Washington-based Bretton Woods institutions – the World Bank and the IMF—long enough to know their lack of understanding of African problems although this did not stop them from writing prescriptions and demanding that they be followed to the letter or else.
When Malawi refused to toe the then economic orthodoxy that the peasant farmers be left at the mercy of free market forces, the donors walked away. But three years later, after first dismissing incontrovertible evidence that the subsidies had enabled farmers to increase their production to 3.6 million tones, more than double the country’s requirement of 1.6 million tonnes, the donors are going back to Malawi.
The lesson here for Uganda and other African countries that have suffered unnecessarily because of heeding donors’ advice to free up the markets and get out of business, is that they take a second look and see what sectors of the economy would be better served by the state’s involvement.
Those countries that have not completed a wholesale sell-off of public assets should also reflect on the fact that the developed countries that supported the free market doctrine most vocally are today competing on who will buy a greater stake in their countries’ financial sector.
In Uganda, the argument should not be on whether the government should subsidise farmers or get involved in industry or any other business but on how best it can do so to ensure that tax-payers get the best value for their money. Perhaps, this soul searching could result in the government kick-starting agro-business that would add value to local agricultural produce before exporting them to the regional and global markets.
This would be undoubtedly better than waiting for private investors mainly from the industrialised countries many of whom seem more interested in the incentives they get from government, such as free land, than in setting up sustainable industries and businesses.
The result is that some of these fly-by-night carpet-baggers sell off the land as soon as they get their hands on the title deed. Other brief-case investors are more interested in taking advantage of their employees poverty by paying them slave-wages and forcing them to work in appalling conditions.
Yes, the Malawi experience should lead to a re-think of every policy that has been imposed from Washington and other industrialised world capitals over the past four decades. After all, instead of these policies making the majority of the population richer even in countries like Kenya where there were no civil wars during the period they became poorer and increased the gap between the rich minority and the poor majority.
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