Reasons to be cheerful (Part 3)

What is it about the music we listen to during our late teens? I heard the late great Ian Dury's Reasons to be Cheerful on the radio yesterday, for the first time in the last 20 years. It was like meeting an old friend after a long absence - Dury's harsh smoker's faux-cockney voice rhyming the good things in life.

For me, it was good to visit Malawi again earlier this month. It was my first proper visit since 2001. Back then, Malawi was visibly the poorest country I had experienced. Buildings were old and dilapidated; there were few vehicles on the roads; people appeared poor: tattered clothes, small, often barefoot. Economic statistics confirmed the evidence of my own eyes. GDP per capital was the lowest in Southern Africa; wages were, in dollar terms, far lower than in Kenya and Tanzania; secondary school enrolment rates were low; and life expectancy at birth was well below 50 (partly due to high HIV infection rates). It was hard to think up any reasons to be cheerful. Malawi is small and landlocked. It is relatively densely populated. It lacks mineral resources. With the exception of Lake Malawi itself, still a favoured stop-over point for backpackers and overlander tourists on their journeys through East and Southern Africa, it lacks obvious tourist attractions by comparison with its neighbours. All in all, prospects seemed bleak.

But, while it is still rated one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi has achieved something big in recent years. It has doubled its agricultural output. From requiring food aid a few years ago, it is now an exporter of food in the region. Its increase in agricultural production has been driven by the adoption of the Agricultural Inputs Subsidy Programme. It is a simple scheme. Vouchers for seeds and fertilizer are issued to named individuals, identified at community level. The vouchers are exchanged for the appropriate product at participating agro-dealers throughout the country. Dealers return them to seed producers and fertilizer importers, who then redeem them with the Government for cash. The results from the programme have been impressive, even after taking into account good rainfall in the past three years. Malawi’s grain silos are overflowing and poor harvests in Zimbabwe, in particular, have resulted in a ready market for the surplus. It has also created an opportunity for seed companies, large and small alike, to increase seed production, bring new varieties to market and invest in expansion. Reasons to be cheerful (Part 1).

This simple, top-down approach initially failed to win the approval and support of donor organizations. However, after its initial success, donors have scrambled aboard the programme, eager to nail their colours to its mast, though they continue to express concern over how long it will be required. It would seem that the development specialists that populate most donor organizations have not yet understood that their home economies almost all provide subsidies – in one form or another – in support of their agricultural sectors, and have no plans to stop. Food security (not to mention the votes of rural communities) are generally considered too important to leave to market forces alone. Why should Africa be an exception?

Has life in Malawi changed? Statistics suggest that its economy is growing and that GDP per capita is increasing, but these statistics tell us little about the multi-dimensional elements of poverty. Poverty alleviation is not something that can be measured using economic indicators alone, nor even by the logframes so beloved by central planners, economists, and development specialists, but by simpler things, like the ownership of bicycles, footwear, cell phones and iron sheets for roofing – the things that provide evidence of real disposable income.

During my visit, I was lucky enough to pay a brief visit to Namitembo village in Southern Malawi. This Catholic parish is supported by St Bridgets Church in Seattle. It has a simple furrow irrigation scheme which enables crops to be grown in the dry season, a rarity in Malawi where little or nothing grows during for the 6-month long dry southern African winter. It has a small health centre, a primary school and an Agriculture and Trade vocational education college. The two men pictured above, Felix Chigwanda and Johann Chisambo, are leading the gradual adoption of new ways of doing things in an environment that is resistant to change. This year, Namitembo is growing seed maize, taking advantage of the dry season to maintain the necessary crop isolation required in order to achieve the requisite genetic purity. This visit served as a reminder of how real change is gradual and generational, and driven as much, if not more, by community initiatives as by central policy. Reasons to be cheerful (Part 2).

One thing that hasn’t changed is street food, Malawi-style. In many parts of Africa, hawkers stand by the roadside, offering food for sale to passing buses and other traffic. In Uganda, grilled chicken, served on a stick, is the most popular offering, along with bananas and other fruit. In Malawi, the main roadside delicacy on offer is field mice, roasted and served fresh, 100 Malawi Kwachas for four, served head, tail and fur intact. It would be fair to say that it’s an acquired taste, but at least it makes a virtue out of pest control. Reasons to be cheerful (Part 3).