Maize Distribution in Namitembo

And now, to clarify something I just mentioned in that last post:

2008 saw one of Malawi's poorest harvests in recent memory. Yes, I know some of you saw a special report on NBC which said that, due to expert planning by Malawi's Ministry of Agriculture, hunger has been forever eradicated in our little Warm Heart of Africa. Would that it were so! Sadly, the fine minds at NBC are not really on board with reality.

The Malawi government has done some good work on the issue of food security. Their fertilizer subsidy program notably received a glowing review in the New York Times; Bingu wa Mutharika's administration managed to boost crop yields throughout the country through the distribution of fertilizer coupons, against clear advice to the contrary from World Bank officials. Malawi experienced bumper crop yields in 2007, thanks in part to this program (we've estimated the 2008 harvest in Namitembo at about 40% of 2007 levels).

Thing is, fertilizer works just fine in a year when the rains are regular and reliable - a year like we had in 2007. 2008, however, was a problem year. The rains did not come pang'onopang'ono in Namitembo during the growing season, but beat down hard on the crops and washed away the soil - and quite a lot of fertilizer with it. Some farmers even had to replant their crops. As if that weren't enough, the rains came to an early end, leaving behind fields of stunted maize plants.

Unfortunately, the Malawi government promotes the fertilizer subsidy program as though it is the end-all-be-all solution for food security, conveniently forgetting the following:

1. Chemical fertilizers are a terrible long-term solution. After years of repeated use, they leave the soil completely devoid of nutrients. There are several natural alternatives, such as nitrogen-fixing crops, which not only provide a boost to soil health, but do so in a sustainable way (even subsidized fertilizer costs the farmers some money each year, and it certainly costs the government).
2. During a year of irregular or insufficient rainfall, all the fertilizer in the world won't get you enough food if you're not able to get water to your crops.

Malawi is blessed with freshwater. Not only do we have Lake Malawi, but there are several smaller lakes, rivers, and streams (including the Shire River, which forms a border of Namitembo Parish). Yet even on the shores of Lake Malawi and on the banks of the Shire, farmers' crops dry out during drought years. There are some government irrigation schemes - but far too few, in my calculation.

Remember the big picture: If one thing has become clear, global climate change is not a matter of small, gradual changes spread evenly throughout the world. We can talk in terms of average yearly increases and trends, but when we're dealing with regions, countries, districts, villages - the changing climate is going to take away any semblance of predictability. It will be increasingly difficult to forecast, with any degree of accuracy, what the next year's rainfall figures will look like.

Now, as usual, I've gone and strayed off my original point. The point is this: Not every family in Namitembo has been affected equally by these problems, but everyone has been affected to some degree. A number of kind donors back at St. Bridget have stepped forward to provide famine relief to the people who've been hit the hardest. Now, you might be wondering just how this is done. Who gets to decide which families are most deserving of aid?

In the first place, the decisions are made with as much transparency as possible. Leaders from each small faith community (out of more than 70 such village-sized communities in Namitembo Parish) have decided who among them, Christian, Muslim, or otherwise, has the greatest need. Everyone from within these communities were invited to contribute their suggestions or criticisms at this stage. After the initial decisions were made, the names were read off during Sunday mass throughout the parish, and again, all were invited to share their remarks. This made it very difficult for those who are well-off to receive assistance...I'm sure a few people, here and there, managed to slip through the cracks - but you can never hope for 100%, and this system seems to have worked very well.

Anyhow, from that list of names, we wrote out tickets - more than 1700 of them, on uncopyable paper, each listing the name and home village of a maize recipient. These were distributed to the community leaders, who in turn gave them to those who had been selected. They were instructed to come to the Namitembo Parish offices on a specific date (we distributed the maize on Thursday the 12th of February, and Saturday the 14th - Valentine's Day). The whole exercise was really quite orderly, and was over fairly quickly on both days. We hope to do this again, once or twice, as long as the funds will hold out (in the meantime, do check out those photos).

On a final note - over the years, the main focus of the St. Bridget/Namitembo connection has been on long-term, sustainable solutions for the community. This includes a number of interesting projects on food security, which I'm sure I'll get into another time. This food aid is in response to an emergency, to assist those in the greatest need (and the need really is great). In no way is the focus shifting away from long-term fixes. You'll hear all about the treadle pump project, and the agroforestry initiatives (nitrogen-fixing the soil, grafting fruit trees, and so on) another time. Until then, tsalani bwino, and don't forget to write!

Just in case...

John Duffell
Namitembo Parish
Box 545, Zomba
Malawi