Malawi – Food, farming and development.Poor education of farmers and its effect on development.

• Malawi is a country with excellent resources.• Land is available, despite increasing population numbers.• Farmers are hard working, the population of Malawi are known as

farmers and have a successful history in Agriculture.• Malawi’s climate, although dry for part of the year, provides huge

amounts of rain water.• Malawi has a wide variety of indigenous plant species, if used these

are well adapted to the hot dry climate.

SO WHAT’S THE PROBLEM??

WHY DO WE HEAR ABOUT STARVING PEOPLE IN SUCH A RICH COUNTRY?

Maize (Sweetcorn)

•Introduced 60 years ago with Western Farming methods•Banda (dictator of Malawi) forced people to follow a European way of life•This included in agriculture and Banda declared traditional indigenous plant crops as outdated and moving backwards.•The ‘pure’ white Maize flour became a popular ingredient in the diet of Malawians.•Department of health has only recently advised Malawian people that they need to eat a variety of food groups.

•Maize alone provides only limited nutrients, particularly when ‘purified’ to its white form.

Maize Farming

•Maize does not grow very well without fertilizer in Malawi.•Large Multinational companies make $millions$ by selling seeds and fertiliser to Malawian farmers•Farmers, if taught could generate free fertiliser.•It costs almost a months wages (using Malawian minimum wage) for a Malawian to buy 1 bag of fertliser. (key point – Appropriate technology)

•They have even designed seeds that once grown and harvested perish.•i.e. they do not provide seeds naturally as a plant would do in the wild.•This means farmers have to buy more seeds the following year.

Farming methods

•Many farmers have not been taught basic soil management techniques•Ration of row to paths in a field is 1:1.•This is inefficient as it wastes potentially productive land•Rows are moved each year onto the site of a previous path•This means over 2 years, the entire field has been compacted, over 10 years, five times.•This damages the soil and makes it hard for plant roots to grow.

•Productivity drops and farmers buy more fertiliser•Farmers families become poorer and less well fed•The reliance on food aid intensifies

INTERNATIONAL AID

•To compound the problem, international aid shipments frequently were given in food aid.•Millions of bags of white maize flour have been distributed in African countries as part of food aid shipments.•Many NGO’s have been guilty of offering food to eat instead of the means to improve farming methods.

Slash and Burn Agriculture

Farmers burn the land to make space for cropsThey believe that the ash will act as fertiliser on the soilThis is a VERY short term farming solution and nutrients will leach from the soil within one growth cycle (6 months to a year)In fact many crops cannot grow here as a result of the burning process

As an area will take 5 years or more to regain its natural state of productivity this is a very damaging farming method.

•Plants and trees can grow well in Malawi, this view of a market shows how many crops can be grown in this climate

•Many Malawian people have grown up thinking Nsima (maize porridge) is the most important part of a meal.•In a WHO survey Malawian people were asked if they had enough food. They replied they did not because there was a shortage of Nsima.•The fact was though they had plenty of food but it was not Nsima.

-NGO’s have had to learn to ask about specific food groups

Other issues

• Many Malawian people don’t understand good nutrition• Nsima alone provides few nutrients. A typical meal

consists of 3 parts Nsima and 1 part vegetables or meat.• Government ministers do not support movements for

change• Many in power do not see the need to change things• Government policy still favours Maize through subsidies,

foreign aid deals and education.• Malawian children are ‘stunted’ because of poor diet.• Physical and mental abilities are affected because of this.• Alongside limited education for primary school pupils this

means the next adult generation will not be able to move the country forward.

Other issues cont

• When harvests of Maize are poor people in some areas starve

• When Harvests are good, the price in Malawi goes down because there is a surplus.

• This is made worse because everyone grows the same crop.

• Crop surplus is sold abroad, this makes those involved (middle men and officials) money.

• Where is the incentive for change?

• CYCLE OF POVERTY – PLANET GEOGRAPHY p 107

Malawi has a wide variety of indigenous species, many of which are now imported from other countries and sold for high values here.

Pulses, beans and peas

TamarindNow imported from India for supermarkets

Sorghum(a staple crop that is indigenous)

VegetablesOnion, spinachCabbage,

Sweet Basil a popular herb

Wide variety of fruit – Passion fruit, mango, banana, coconut, tomato, avocado, coffee beans, baobab fruits.

Plants can also be used for baskets, shoes, roofing, etc

Over 200 species

50 common

Solutions.

•Education of the Malawian people to understand the importance of nutrition.

•Educate Malawian people to value traditional food stuffs rather than think of them as for ‘poor’ people.

•Education of farmers and improvement of farming methods

•Government independence from multinational companies.

•Provision of seeds that are suitable for the climate and that can be harvested for their seeds•In turn make farmers self sufficient.

•International community provide infrastructure and sustainable tech, not simply food aid.

e.g. Permaculture centre – Near Lilongwe, Malawi.Otherwise known as permanent culture

Run by International Academics in food and nutrition.

Aim to train local people in Permaculture – Permanent culture, harvest all year round.

They support the use of maize as a food staple as to not do so would mean Malawian people would not listen at all.

They are trying to change the ratio of Nsima to alternative from 3:1 to 2:2.

Encouraging food nutrition.

Educating people in what is nutrient rich and what a balanced diet looks like.

•Pressurising government (gently) to educate people about the different food groups (fats, proteins, carbs, nuts and seeds etc)

•Changing farming habits

•Encourage more economical use of land, larger and permanent growing beds to avoid soil compaction

•Retention of top soil to keep soil nutrient rich

•Use of natural fertiliser, compost from kitchen, animal and human waste.

•Irrigation from ALL water sources, rain storage as well as recycling of water.

IF MALAWIAN FARMERS BECOME MORE SELF SUFFICIENT AND AS A COUNTRY, MALAWI BECOMES SELF SUFFICIENT THIS WILL IMPROVE HEALTH, DECREASE IMPACT OF HIV, AND IMPROVE LOCAL LEVELS OF WEALTH ACROSS THE COUNTRY.-IF MALAWI COULD BECOME A NET EXPORTER OF FOOD•Fig 5.29 planet geography pg 107 – access to food pg113 – 115.

– access to food pg113 – 115.

• Read through the text.

• List and explain 5 reasons that in LEDC’S farming is inefficient and slowing down development.

• Give 2 examples of successes in improving output.

• Why is surplus food important to an LEDC?