MALAWI FOOD SECURITY ISSUES PAPER DRAFT For Forum For Food Security In Southern Africa

Author: Diana Cammack, Osten Chulu, Stanley Khaila and Davies Ng’ong’ola

Year: Unknown

Category: Corporate Reports

Abstract

Food security policy has been made by a variety of institutions within the Malawi government for many years. Thus a whole range of programmes that relate to agricultural productivity, access to food and related topics is implemented (with varying degrees of competency and success) by a number of ministries working with donor and civil society partners. The food crisis (2001-03) gave rise to a new structure, the Food Crisis Joint Task Force, to respond to the emergency, to investigate and report on various aspects of it, and to oversee the design of a new food security policy and an institution to coordinate its implementation. The role, interests and inter-relations of various agencies of government, civil society and donor governments, which will impact on the design process and the resulting policy, are surveyed here. Issues that are contentious and/or yet to be resolved are also listed. Adverse climatic conditions in 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 growing seasons, complemented by mismanagement of grain reserves plunged Malawi into one of the worst food security crises in recent times with about 30% of the population in need of emergency support. The HIV/AIDS pandemic exacerbated an already precarious situation through an accelerated attrition rate of the economically productive population. Inherent structural and institutional bottlenecks in the production and marketing systems have to be urgently addressed to let Malawi graduate from the group of food insecure nations. Malawi lacks a well-developed and diversified monetary economy. It depends, to a large extent, on agriculture, migrant labour remittances and returnee earnings, making it relatively more vulnerable to the vagaries of nature and economic conditions in the labour absorbing countries.

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