DanChurchAid
Malawi
A good harvest in Malawi
Eliana Musolela is one of the happy women in Kawala where they now look forward to a good harvest. The women have worked hard to ensure that this year won’t be another period of hunger, and they have succeeded.
Fortunately, they are not alone in their celebrations. The first official figures on the expected harvest results in Malawi are promising. A reported yield of 2.3 million tonnes of maize is expected during April. In a few weeks, the government will be able to give more precise figures.
To be self-sufficient, Malawi needs 2.2 million tonnes of maize for its 12 million people. It has thus an expected surplus of food this year.
Diet
Last year the harvest was a catastrophic 1.8 million tonnes due to a long period of drought during February when the crops are particularly dependent on rain. This meant that about 5 million people had enough food for just 5-6 months.
For the Malawians food equals maize. The monotonous maize porridge is the main meal and very few realise that they also need vegetables and fruit if children are to develop healthily.
This means that about 25% of children below the age of five suffer from undernourishment and malnutrition resulting in reduced learning ability. Now that enough food is available, it is important that Malawians have a varied diet.
Progress
Eliana Musolela is part of an agricultural co-operative that now also cultivates soya beans, peanuts, potatoes and kassawa. Eliana is a widow with five children.
With help from DanChurchAid, the women learn to cultivate other and more nutritious and drought resistant yields than the traditional maize.
All in all 20 women have volunteered for this season’s first project in the village. They are given advice by an agricultural expert from CSC, Christian Service Committee, one of DanChurchAid’s partner organisations in Malawi. The plot of land on which the crops are cultivated was provided by the chief of the village.
Helping people to help themselves
The soya plants stand green and golden in the field. The potatoes and kassawa are sprouting. Only the peanuts are not doing so well. Many plants have been flushed away after a few days of heavy rainfall. Eliana and her friends will be able to harvest more than enough to pay off the seed corn debt to CSC, to have enough seed corn for a new season and also to have food for 8 – 9 months.
CSC is trying out co-operatives in 100 villages. Here, husbandry with goats and chickens are being introduced. The husbandry will not only feed the families and generate income by sale but the animal manure mixed in with plant remnants will also be used for compost for fertilising fields and vegetable patches. Everything is happening under the motto “Helping people to help themselves”.
This might be one of the ways in which future generations are secured better nutrition and the avoidance of widespread hunger next time a drought hits Malawi.
By: Lennart Skov-Hansen, DanChurchAid’s regional representative in Malawi ( lsh@dca.dk ).
