Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Malawi

Malawi improves food security through farmer subsidies

Listen to the News

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is going to Malawi on Sunday, where he will visit a Millennium village - one of the UN's test cases in reducing extreme poverty. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Yet in recent years it managed to improve food security even as the world was going through a food crisis. UN Radio's Derrick Mbatha was there two years ago to find out how this was accomplished.

Duration: 3'05"

SFX SINGING VILLAGERS

NARR: Villagers in the Dedza District, about an hour outside the capital Lilongwe, give an enthusiastic welcome as we arrived to meet with them. The government of Malawi has made an investment in local agriculture so there is less reliance on imports. Here farmers are given not only seeds and fertilizers, but assistance with micro projects. These projects are funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Here people are also planting fruit trees to improve their nutrition. A nearby hill used to be green but now it has been stripped of its trees.

Mulepa: (Translation from Chichewa)

I am Jaziretshi Mulepa. I live here in Joza Village. We are working here in Kadedwa Hill where we are reforesting the hill. The total number of trees we have planted is 23,000.

NARR: Improving irrigation for small farmers is one of the priorities for addressing food security in the country. In this village there is a small rainwater harvesting tank.

Daligo: (Translation from Chichewa)

I am Mrs. Daligo. I live here in Joza Kalijelo Village. I am the chairperson of the Rainwater Harvesting Tank. Basically we want to use this rainwater harvesting structure for irrigation. We want to irrigate our land where we will grow crops for food and cash.

NARR: Villagers in rural Malawi participate in the conception and implementation of projects that are brought to their areas. They are organized in what are called Circles. A member of one such group in the Mgumba village of Chiradzulu district is Lynne Netwaya who proudly shows me bags of maize stored in a hut.

(Translation from Chichewa)

Netwaya: Before I joined this group, we had a piece of land that we cultivated as a family. We used to harvest two or three bags. But this year it's a dream to us, it's the first time in our family that we have managed to harvest 18 bags. And this year we are able to send our children to school after having had breakfast. When they come back, they are able to get food at home which is very good for us and our family.

NARR: In all the villages I visited, there was one message: if people are given the means to secure food, they can. Reporting for UN Radio, I am Derrick Mbatha.