Malawi to tackle food shortages at NAM summit

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika says he will discuss the issue of global food security at the two-day Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit which starts on Wednesday in Egypt.

"Malawi will raise the issue of global food security. The world has food shortages, there are shortages of rice, wheat and other crops," Mutharika told journalists before leaving for the summit.

He said his impoverished southern African nation, where half the population suffered famine in 2005, has turned around its agricultural sector in the past three years.

Mutharika has invested millions of dollars in a fertiliser susbsidy programme, which resulted in a bumper maize harvest for 2009.

"If the Non Aligned Movement can copy our experiment in Malawi, perhaps the world can be able to feed itself," said Mutharika.

In June, Mutharika announced that his country had produced 3.7 million tons of maize for the 2009 harvest, a 36% increase from last year's crop.

Mutharika said he wants to invite the private sector to invest in agriculture, which is the backbone of the country's economy, to produce rice and maize.

"Malawi can contribute to world food security," he added.

Mutharika's focus on ending hunger and poverty saw him being re-elected for a second term as president in the May elections.