Malawi: no longer begging

Amidst so many depressing reports of African nations who are falling badly behind in their bid to meet the Millennium Development Goals, Malawi stands out on the continent as a rare example of a success story. Situated in Eastern Africa, Malawi has not only succeeded in transforming itself into a country with a food surplus but also has managed to meet most of the Millennium goals over the past two years. So what are the secrets of its success? A question we put to Malawi’s Minister for Agriculture and Food security, Peter Mwanza, at a recent international prayer for peace meeting in Barcelona organised by the Sant’Egidio Catholic lay group. He says Malawi “used to be a very poor country…. that used to lack food and every year “we had to go outside (Malawi) to beg for food aid.” He said the government’s decision to subsidise poor farmers was the key to its success in improving Malawi’s food security situation and “the results were astonishing and astounding….” Susy Hodges reports: