Malawi: Washed Away - Food Security Hit By Natural Disasters




Besides last year's erratic rains and drought which reduced the maize harvest (the country's staple) by 7%, the southern African country has recently been hit by severe floods, displacing an estimated 10,000 households across ten districts.

Flood victims in the hunger season





"We are calling upon local companies and other well-wishers to help with relief items since the government cannot do this alone", said Jeffrey Kanyinji, secretary of the Department of Relief and Disaster Preparedness. "Food is most important to the victims as they have lost everything."

From surplus to shortage



The situation is particularly tragic considering the recent successes Malawi's farmers have had in providing adequate food for the nation. Malawi's Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP), introduced by late former president Bingu wa Mutharika in 2005, proved widely successful in meeting Malawi's food needs - despite reluctance of international donors to support the programme.

Under the initiative, the government sold fertiliser to targeted beneficiaries at a reduced price of $7 for a 50kg bag rather than the market price of around $27. The country soon began registering a surplus harvest of more than one million metric tons of maize - a trend which continued from 2005 until the erratic weather of 2011.

Amazing maize


Jeffery Sachs and Glenn Denning, food experts and economists from the Earth Institute at Columbia University in the US, commended Malawi's successful subsidy programme, describing it as an example of Africa's 'green revolution'. They recommended that other countries could learn from Malawi's example.

Meanwhile an article in Financial Times in 2007 entitled 'How the rich world can help Africa help itself' wrote: "The impact [of Malawi's subsidy programme] has stunned the doomsayers; it seems that an African green revolution is possible after all".


However, things started turning sour for Malawi's still donor dependent economy in 2010, when some donors, including the IMF, became angered at Mutharika's refusal to implement certain economic policies and increasingly authoritarian style of government. They subsequently began withholding aid including their financial contribution to the FISP.

Banda's crop conundrum

At present, President Joyce Banda's government needs to develop long-term strategies to reverse the devastation wrought by nature and reclaim Malawi's recent agricultural progress.


By January 2013, over 30,000 metric tons of maize had reportedly been released under President Banda's food distribution exercise. However, this has raised fears that the reserves might become dangerously depleted.


"Yes we are taking out a large number of metric tons but the maize is still intact. It is not depleted yet", said Mwanza, "The information I have received from National Food Reserve Agency shows that by April we will still have 400,000 metric tons in reserve." Despite this reassurance, however, Banda herself has said the reserves could be depleted next year if there is another drought.

Complementing the government's efforts, another initiative - being undertaken by the WFP and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) - is providing about 1.8 million people with monthly rations.


However, the measures currently in place are only mitigating the havoc already wreaked by natural forces. The Malawian government, with the help of the international community, must work hard to find long-term solutions to overcome these setbacks, regain momentum, and consolidate the country's status as a successful African exporter of food. If not, Malawi and its people will remain at the mercy of the elements.

Lameck Masina is an established journalist living and working in Malawi.

