unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/24/89)
better-off tend to join them. Because the group as a whole is
liable for any debts, they tend not to accept anyone they
consider a risk, effectively excluding the majority most of whom
are in any case very weary of shouldering a financial burden.
Agriculture is constrained by factors affecting the economy as a
whole. Successive devaluations and rapidly rising transport costs
- due to the war in neighbouring Mozambique - have seen the
price of imports, especially fertiliser climb alarmingly.
Labour is another problem. Families which cannot produce enough
must look for work off their own holdings to survive. Most work
is at the height of the cropping season, so their own plot is
neglected and a vicious circle develops.
This is especially the case in households headed by women, which
make up 40 per cent of the total in some areas. Saddled with
looking after children, collecting fuel and water, they have to
farm their land and - if their plots are small - earn a wage.
The market also conspires against the majority of peasant
farmers. Research shows that immediate cash needs force them to
sell some maize soon after the harvest when prices are low.
Later in the season, when they need to buy back, prices are
higher.
Larger farmers can take advantage of the seasonal price
increase, retaining the bulk of their surplus until a few months
before the next harvest, when supplies are usually short. It
enables them to buy fertiliser and hire labour.
With structural adjustment, maize marketing - previously
restricted to the state-run crop marketing board - has been
opened to private traders. Some observers say it has led to
fluctuations in supplies and prices, worsening the position of
the poorer farmers. Government and aid donors recently completed
a review of agriculture, and negotiations have begun with the
World Bank on a new structural adjustment credit, conditional on
sweeping agricultural policy reforms aimed at the peasantry.
Aid officials say conditions are likely to include a controlled
introduction to the peasant sector of burley tobacco, a
potentially lucrative cash crop. Malawi is already Africa's
biggest producer.
However, it is a politically sensitive proposal, since burley is
at present restricted to estates.
Pilot "Food for Work" projects are being considered in the
off-season. These would provide poorer farmers with food when
their stocks were depleted. They could also help improve the
environment through tree planting or soil conservation work.
Another condition will be measures to extend and strengthen the
private sector in marketing maize and inputs, especially
fertiliser. This would have to include improving traders'
access to transport and capital.
New approaches of extending credit also need to be found. Pilot
schemes involving women - who perform 70 per cent of all farming
in Malawi - will be set up.
Research into producing a high-yielding hybrid maize variety,
acceptable to peasant farmers, will be stepped up.
Details of the policy reforms have not been finalised, but all
agree their importance to Malawi's future is paramount. One aid
official said: "If we don't get it right now we probably never
will."
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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