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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Well,
life expectancy increased by about 10 years between 1980 and 2010
LILONGWE, 9 November 2010 –Malawians have all reasons to smile following revelations by the 20th anniversary edition of the Human Development Report that life expectancy at birth increased by about 10 years between 1980 and 2010 The 2010 Report, The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development was co- launched today with the National Human Development Report Gender and Human Development in Malawi: Women and the Potential of Achieving the MDGs at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe by UNDP Resident Representative Mr. Richard Dictus and Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development, Honourable Theresa Gloria Mwale M.P.
Malawi is ranked 153 out 169 countries for which accurate and comparable data is available. The report reveals that Malawi just like other developing countries has made significant improvements in key Human Development index (HDI) indicators such education, health and standard of living.
The Human Development Report is the UNDP’s flagship publication that aims at framing debate on some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. The 2010 Report examines progress in health, education and income over the past 40 years. The first Human Development Report released in 1990 and stated that people are the real wealth of nations.
Country ranking changes in the HDI are now reported over a five-year comparative period, rather than on a year-to-year basis, to better reflect long-term development trends. Due to methodological refinements of the HDI formula, the 2010 rankings are not directly comparable to those in earlier Reports
The 20th edition of the Human Development Report also introduces three new innovative measurements, the Inequality -adjusted HDI, the Gender Inequality Index and the Multidimensional Poverty Index complimenting the Report’s traditional Human Development Index (HDI).
The Inequality- adjusted HDI reduces national HDI values by the degree of inequalities in health, standards of living and distribution of income. The gender inequality index factors in women’s participation in government and the workforce as well as health and education status to reflect disparities between men and women within and across countries, while the Multidimensional Poverty Index identifies overlapping deprivations at the household level-including health, schooling and living conditions and calculates that fully a third of the people in the 104 countries studied live in extreme multidimensional poverty.
For example in the 2010 Report In education, expected years of schooling for school age children replaces gross enrolment, and average years of schooling in the adult population replaces adult literacy rates, to provide a fuller picture of education levels. Life expectancy remains the main indicator for health.
“Between 1980 and 2010, Malawi’s life expectancy at birth increased by about 10 years, mean years of schooling increased by almost 3 years and expected years of schooling increased by about 4 years. Malawi’s GNI per capita increased by 21 percent during the same period,”
“Between 1980 and 2010, Malawi’s HDI value increased from 0.258 to 0.385, an average of 49 percent or average annual increase of about 1.3 percent. With such an increase, Malawi is ranked 20 in terms of HDI improvement based on deviation from fit,” reads the report in part.
Malawi is one of the success stories in combating major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The country has managed to reduce the HIV prevalence, introduced the free Anti retroviral therapy (ART), and embarked on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Malawi has also been recognized for bumper harvests. These and other factors have largely contributed to improved and prolonged life of Malawians.
Jeni Klugman, the lead author of the 2010 report said: “Our results confirm, with new data and analysis, two central contentions to the Human Development Report from the outset; human development is different from economic growth and substantial achievements are possible even without fast growth.”
According to latest figures from the Ministry of Finance, Malawi has experienced steady economic growth since 2004. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has averaged 8.2 percent per year. In the next two years, GDP growth is expected to grow by 7.1 percent this year and 6.8 in 2011. There has been a drop in poverty headcount over the same period from 52.4 percent in 2005 to 40 percent.
“UNDP is proud to be associated with the various achievements in Malawi. As a neutral and trusted broker, UNDP has provided up stream policy support to the Government of Malawi which has partly contributed to the various successes,” Commented Mr. Dictus
Through the 50:50 campaign, UNDP and other development partners supported female candidates in the 2009 Presidential and Parliamentary elections that saw the number of women parliamentarians increase from about 13 percent to 24 percent. However, the report says Malawi’s Gender Inequality Index value is at 0.758, ranking the country at 126 out of 138 countries based on 2008 data.
The introduction of the Gender Inequality Index in the 2010 Human Development Report is timely as the 2010 National Human Development Report for Malawi focuses on gender issues.
The report entitled Gender and Human Development in Malawi, Women and the Potential of Achieving the MDG focuses on women and makes comparison with men in the context of overall human development. It also explores the links between microeconomic and other development policies and their differentiated impact on women and men. The report also analyzes the impact (economic, social and other) of gender inequality on the human development situation in Malawi
“Malawi has proved at international level that policies that speak to lived realities may initially be viewed as defying prescribed western models for economic growth, but that they can work based on local situations and with country-based opportunities. This, combined with engagement, commitment and the political will to enforce agreed change should be applied in the quest for gender equality,” reads the report in part.
Commenting on the National Human Development Report, Mr. Dictus said “the Report highlights that human development cannot take place in Malawi when the opportunities of more than half of the population comprising women and girls are restricted. The approach to addressing gender inequality in Malawi needs to recognise and draw upon matriarchal lineage. This requires a home-grown, community driven, local–national approach in preference to an external patriarchal set of perceived solutions,”
Commenting on the two reports, the Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development Honourable Theresa Gloria Mwale said that the themes for both the Human Development Report 2010 and the National Human Development report were relevant to Malawi.
She said therefore the significance of the Human Development reports cannot be over emphasized, adding that human development is central and a prerequisite to rural, national and global development
“The Report will go a long way helping nations including Malawi to reposition them in order to improve the present situation of their people. It is indeed imperative to recognize and respond to new threats that endanger human well being and freedom as the Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen wrote,” she said
Regarding the National Human Development Report, Honourable Mwale said that the Government of Malawi recognizes that development can effectively take place when gender issues are mainstreamed into national policies. “Gender is a cross-cutting issue as it affects any development efforts. For instance, unless challenges of girl child education are addressed, most managerial positions will still be held by men because there will be few educated women due to high drop outs of girls in school. In this respect, gender mainstreaming should be at the hub of every intervention aimed at meeting the targets of all the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015, “she said
* * *
For information, contact Zainah Liwanda, UNDP Communications Associate on zainah.liwanda@undp.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 01 773 500 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 01 773 500 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. The complete Press Kit for the global launch of the 20th edition of the HDR is available on www.hdr.undp.org
ABOUT THE 2010 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT: Since inception in 1990, the Human Development Report has provided fresh insights into some of the pressing challenges facing humanity. The Human Development Report is an independent annual publication of the United Nations Development Programme. Jeni Klugman is the lead author of the 2010 Report which is translated in more than a dozen languages and launched in more than 100 countries annually. The Report is published in English by Palgrave Macmillan. Complete texts of the 2010 report and previous Reports since 1990 are available for free downloading in UN major languages on the report website http://hdr.undp.org
ABOUT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: Human Development is the expansion of freedoms that people have to live their lives as they choose. The conception-inspired by the path-breaking work of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and the leadership of the late Mahbub ul Haq, and known also as the capabilities approach because of its emphasis on the freedom that people have to achieve vital beings and doings’- has been at the core of UNDPs approach since the first Human Development Report in 1990, and is as relevant as ever to the design of effective policies to combat poverty and deprivation. This approach has proved powerful in reshaping thinking about topics as diverse as gender, human security and climate change
ABOUT THE 2010 NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges facing Malawi today, impeding on the development of the country at large and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Women constitute about 52 percent of the population of Malawi. Women are the child-bearers and sustainers of the family. They are significant contributors to the country’s economy, comprising the main agricultural labour force. Women are disadvantaged compared to men in almost every sphere of their lives and in every sector of development. This leads to women’s poor access to the benefits of even their contribution to development. Human development can only reach its full potential if the opportunities of women and girls are opened up. For the country to meet its national development goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets by 2015, the challenge is to place gender equality at the centre of the development agenda; to incorporate gender issues at the core of development analysis, plans and programmes. This Fifth Human Development Report 2010 for Malawi is unique as it focuses on gender throughout the MDGs, giving substantial analysis of the gender-based obstacles and barriers to the achievement of MDGs and also giving clear recommendations on how these can be overcome
ABOUT UNDP: UNDP is the UN’s global network to help people meet their development needs and build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries working as a trusted partner with governments, civil society and the private sector to help them build their own solutions to global and national development challenges. Further information can be found at http:/www.undp.org/
LILONGWE, 9 November 2010 –Malawians have all reasons to smile following revelations by the 20th anniversary edition of the Human Development Report that life expectancy at birth increased by about 10 years between 1980 and 2010 The 2010 Report, The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development was co- launched today with the National Human Development Report Gender and Human Development in Malawi: Women and the Potential of Achieving the MDGs at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe by UNDP Resident Representative Mr. Richard Dictus and Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development, Honourable Theresa Gloria Mwale M.P.
Malawi is ranked 153 out 169 countries for which accurate and comparable data is available. The report reveals that Malawi just like other developing countries has made significant improvements in key Human Development index (HDI) indicators such education, health and standard of living.
The Human Development Report is the UNDP’s flagship publication that aims at framing debate on some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. The 2010 Report examines progress in health, education and income over the past 40 years. The first Human Development Report released in 1990 and stated that people are the real wealth of nations.
Country ranking changes in the HDI are now reported over a five-year comparative period, rather than on a year-to-year basis, to better reflect long-term development trends. Due to methodological refinements of the HDI formula, the 2010 rankings are not directly comparable to those in earlier Reports
The 20th edition of the Human Development Report also introduces three new innovative measurements, the Inequality -adjusted HDI, the Gender Inequality Index and the Multidimensional Poverty Index complimenting the Report’s traditional Human Development Index (HDI).
The Inequality- adjusted HDI reduces national HDI values by the degree of inequalities in health, standards of living and distribution of income. The gender inequality index factors in women’s participation in government and the workforce as well as health and education status to reflect disparities between men and women within and across countries, while the Multidimensional Poverty Index identifies overlapping deprivations at the household level-including health, schooling and living conditions and calculates that fully a third of the people in the 104 countries studied live in extreme multidimensional poverty.
For example in the 2010 Report In education, expected years of schooling for school age children replaces gross enrolment, and average years of schooling in the adult population replaces adult literacy rates, to provide a fuller picture of education levels. Life expectancy remains the main indicator for health.
“Between 1980 and 2010, Malawi’s life expectancy at birth increased by about 10 years, mean years of schooling increased by almost 3 years and expected years of schooling increased by about 4 years. Malawi’s GNI per capita increased by 21 percent during the same period,”
“Between 1980 and 2010, Malawi’s HDI value increased from 0.258 to 0.385, an average of 49 percent or average annual increase of about 1.3 percent. With such an increase, Malawi is ranked 20 in terms of HDI improvement based on deviation from fit,” reads the report in part.
Malawi is one of the success stories in combating major diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The country has managed to reduce the HIV prevalence, introduced the free Anti retroviral therapy (ART), and embarked on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Malawi has also been recognized for bumper harvests. These and other factors have largely contributed to improved and prolonged life of Malawians.
Jeni Klugman, the lead author of the 2010 report said: “Our results confirm, with new data and analysis, two central contentions to the Human Development Report from the outset; human development is different from economic growth and substantial achievements are possible even without fast growth.”
According to latest figures from the Ministry of Finance, Malawi has experienced steady economic growth since 2004. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has averaged 8.2 percent per year. In the next two years, GDP growth is expected to grow by 7.1 percent this year and 6.8 in 2011. There has been a drop in poverty headcount over the same period from 52.4 percent in 2005 to 40 percent.
“UNDP is proud to be associated with the various achievements in Malawi. As a neutral and trusted broker, UNDP has provided up stream policy support to the Government of Malawi which has partly contributed to the various successes,” Commented Mr. Dictus
Through the 50:50 campaign, UNDP and other development partners supported female candidates in the 2009 Presidential and Parliamentary elections that saw the number of women parliamentarians increase from about 13 percent to 24 percent. However, the report says Malawi’s Gender Inequality Index value is at 0.758, ranking the country at 126 out of 138 countries based on 2008 data.
The introduction of the Gender Inequality Index in the 2010 Human Development Report is timely as the 2010 National Human Development Report for Malawi focuses on gender issues.
The report entitled Gender and Human Development in Malawi, Women and the Potential of Achieving the MDG focuses on women and makes comparison with men in the context of overall human development. It also explores the links between microeconomic and other development policies and their differentiated impact on women and men. The report also analyzes the impact (economic, social and other) of gender inequality on the human development situation in Malawi
“Malawi has proved at international level that policies that speak to lived realities may initially be viewed as defying prescribed western models for economic growth, but that they can work based on local situations and with country-based opportunities. This, combined with engagement, commitment and the political will to enforce agreed change should be applied in the quest for gender equality,” reads the report in part.
Commenting on the National Human Development Report, Mr. Dictus said “the Report highlights that human development cannot take place in Malawi when the opportunities of more than half of the population comprising women and girls are restricted. The approach to addressing gender inequality in Malawi needs to recognise and draw upon matriarchal lineage. This requires a home-grown, community driven, local–national approach in preference to an external patriarchal set of perceived solutions,”
Commenting on the two reports, the Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development Honourable Theresa Gloria Mwale said that the themes for both the Human Development Report 2010 and the National Human Development report were relevant to Malawi.
She said therefore the significance of the Human Development reports cannot be over emphasized, adding that human development is central and a prerequisite to rural, national and global development
“The Report will go a long way helping nations including Malawi to reposition them in order to improve the present situation of their people. It is indeed imperative to recognize and respond to new threats that endanger human well being and freedom as the Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen wrote,” she said
Regarding the National Human Development Report, Honourable Mwale said that the Government of Malawi recognizes that development can effectively take place when gender issues are mainstreamed into national policies. “Gender is a cross-cutting issue as it affects any development efforts. For instance, unless challenges of girl child education are addressed, most managerial positions will still be held by men because there will be few educated women due to high drop outs of girls in school. In this respect, gender mainstreaming should be at the hub of every intervention aimed at meeting the targets of all the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015, “she said
* * *
For information, contact Zainah Liwanda, UNDP Communications Associate on zainah.liwanda@undp.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 01 773 500 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 01 773 500 end_of_the_skype_highlighting. The complete Press Kit for the global launch of the 20th edition of the HDR is available on www.hdr.undp.org
ABOUT THE 2010 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT: Since inception in 1990, the Human Development Report has provided fresh insights into some of the pressing challenges facing humanity. The Human Development Report is an independent annual publication of the United Nations Development Programme. Jeni Klugman is the lead author of the 2010 Report which is translated in more than a dozen languages and launched in more than 100 countries annually. The Report is published in English by Palgrave Macmillan. Complete texts of the 2010 report and previous Reports since 1990 are available for free downloading in UN major languages on the report website http://hdr.undp.org
ABOUT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: Human Development is the expansion of freedoms that people have to live their lives as they choose. The conception-inspired by the path-breaking work of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and the leadership of the late Mahbub ul Haq, and known also as the capabilities approach because of its emphasis on the freedom that people have to achieve vital beings and doings’- has been at the core of UNDPs approach since the first Human Development Report in 1990, and is as relevant as ever to the design of effective policies to combat poverty and deprivation. This approach has proved powerful in reshaping thinking about topics as diverse as gender, human security and climate change
ABOUT THE 2010 NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT Gender inequality is one of the biggest challenges facing Malawi today, impeding on the development of the country at large and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).Women constitute about 52 percent of the population of Malawi. Women are the child-bearers and sustainers of the family. They are significant contributors to the country’s economy, comprising the main agricultural labour force. Women are disadvantaged compared to men in almost every sphere of their lives and in every sector of development. This leads to women’s poor access to the benefits of even their contribution to development. Human development can only reach its full potential if the opportunities of women and girls are opened up. For the country to meet its national development goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets by 2015, the challenge is to place gender equality at the centre of the development agenda; to incorporate gender issues at the core of development analysis, plans and programmes. This Fifth Human Development Report 2010 for Malawi is unique as it focuses on gender throughout the MDGs, giving substantial analysis of the gender-based obstacles and barriers to the achievement of MDGs and also giving clear recommendations on how these can be overcome
ABOUT UNDP: UNDP is the UN’s global network to help people meet their development needs and build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries working as a trusted partner with governments, civil society and the private sector to help them build their own solutions to global and national development challenges. Further information can be found at http:/www.undp.org/
Protest: Hands off WikiLeaks
Exposing US government duplicity and abuses is the morally right thing to do
Join the protest to defend WikiLeaks and Julian Assange1pm, Tuesday, 14 December 2010Westminster Magistrates Court 70 Horsferry Road, London SW1 P2Julian Assange will be appealing for bail on Tuesday
Protest to your MP and MEPs via this website: www.writetothem.com
Sign the AVAAZ online petition: http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/?vl
The WikiLeaks revelations regarding secret US diplomatic cables have exposed the two-faced, dirty diplomacy of the US government and its support for unsavoury regimes and human rights abusers.
Exposing duplicity and injustice is a good and honourable thing to do, regardless of whether the whistleblowers are exposing such malpractices in the US, Britain, Russia, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, China or anywhere else.
In the absence of open, honest government, leaked documents are often the only way we have of knowing what Washington is really doing and saying.
The public has a right to know matters of public interest. Thanks to WikiLeaks, we now know many things that the US government (and others) wanted to keep hidden from us, like America's secret wars in Yemen and Pakistan.
Contrary to what Pentagon and White House officials claim, there is no evidence that WikiLeaks has put anyone's life in danger. The evidence presented by WikiLeaks is embarrassing, not life-threatening.
In advance of publication, WikiLeaks invited the US government to identify any documents that could potentially put individuals at risk. The US declined to do so. Despite this snub, WikiLeaks appears to have mostly acted responsibly by redacting and withholding certain documents. Where, in some cases, they have not protected the identities of individual people at risk, such as in Afghanistan, this is deplorable and wrong.
Washington is angry because the manifest contradictions between its public and private stances have been exposed by the on-going leaks of diplomatic cables. They show a clear lack of government accountability, honesty and transparency.
The WikiLeaks controversy is, first and foremost, a battle between state secrecy and misinformation on the one hand, and the public's right to know on the other hand. It's a freedom of information issue.
The allegations of sex abuse against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, are
something different - and worrying. They were made some months after WikiLeaks had previously embarrassed the US by exposing its war crimes and cover-ups in Iraq. Mere coincidence? Possibly.
Julian Assange is accused of rape. These allegations must be taken seriously. He might be guilty of sex crimes. If so, he should face prosecution and punishment, just like anyone else.
So far, however, he has not been charged with any offence and these rape allegations were previously dismissed in August by the Swedish prosecuting authorities. For the moment, he is innocent until proven guilty.
Although the charges against Assange look like a fix to silence and discredit him, there may be truth in them. It is impossible to be sure either way. However, what is beyond question is that some top people in the US are out for revenge. They want to destroy Assange and WikiLeaks.
Meanwhile, major war criminals and human rights abusers roam free. No judge dares touch them. But a non-violent campaigner like Assange feels the full force of the law. A man who exposes war crimes faces criminal indictment, yet the people and governments who perpetrated these crimes do not. Double standards or what?
Is the US seeking to frame Julian Assange? In the 1970s, they tried to discredit the heroic Vietnam war whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. A plan was hatched to portray him as mentally unstable. Are the charges against Assange a re-run of what they tried to do to Ellsberg? We don't know. Maybe. Maybe not.
The decision by a British judge to deny bail to Julian Assange looks vindictive and unjustified. Assange is not a dangerous, hardened criminal. He should have got bail. People charged with robberies, assaults and sexual crimes are often bailed. Assange is well known and not able to easily disappear. The chances of him absconding are slight. So why the hardline denial of bail in his case?
Is the judge an establishment stooge? Was he pressured to remand Assange in custody? Or did he conclude, of his own free will, that it is appropriate to refuse Assange bail?
Perhaps the judge sincerely believes that the sex allegations against Assange are credible - and, in addition, that Assange is a grave threat to public order and national security, who is unfit to remain free until he is extradited and put on trial. If so, in my opinion, the judge has lost his moral bearings and his sense of reality and proportion.
The US-inspired blocking of donations to WikiLeaks and the attempts to deny WikiLeaks internet access are outrageous infringements of press freedom, civil rights and freedom of expression. As of now, WikiLeaks has not been found guilty of any crime. Yet some governments and major corporations are acting as if the whistleblowing website is a proven criminal organisation.
The US appears to have successfully pressured Amazon, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal to withdraw their services from WikiLeaks. The Swiss bank PostFinance has closed Assange's personal account. This is a politically motivated witch-hunt that is attempting to use economic pressure to silence WikiLeaks.
Congratulations to Operation Payback and the Anonymous hacktivists. They are right to hit back at the people who have attempted to drive WikiLeaks off the internet and cut its funding. This suppression and censorship has to be resisted, by any reasonable, non-violent means necessary.
Limited, qualified cyber attacks are legitimate forms of protest against the way some corporations have victimised WikiLeaks, apparently under pressure from the US government. If Washington can lean on these corporations, why shouldn't the defenders of WikiLeaks retaliate and exert pressure on them in the other direction?
We, the people, have a right to know what governments are secretly saying and doing, in our name and allegedly in our interests. The government, police, security services and judges are our servants. We are not pawns in their power games, to be manipulated and hoodwinked.
All power to WikiLeaks for shining a light on the duplicity of the US government. Thanks to WikiLeaks we now have clear evidence that the US frequently says one thing in public and something different in private - and that it cosies up to tyrants, and ignores or acquiesces in human rights abuses. Bravo WikiLeaks and Julian Assange!
Join the protest to defend WikiLeaks and Julian Assange1pm, Tuesday, 14 December 2010Westminster Magistrates Court 70 Horsferry Road, London SW1 P2Julian Assange will be appealing for bail on Tuesday
Protest to your MP and MEPs via this website: www.writetothem.com
Sign the AVAAZ online petition: http://www.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/?vl
The WikiLeaks revelations regarding secret US diplomatic cables have exposed the two-faced, dirty diplomacy of the US government and its support for unsavoury regimes and human rights abusers.
Exposing duplicity and injustice is a good and honourable thing to do, regardless of whether the whistleblowers are exposing such malpractices in the US, Britain, Russia, Zimbabwe, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, China or anywhere else.
In the absence of open, honest government, leaked documents are often the only way we have of knowing what Washington is really doing and saying.
The public has a right to know matters of public interest. Thanks to WikiLeaks, we now know many things that the US government (and others) wanted to keep hidden from us, like America's secret wars in Yemen and Pakistan.
Contrary to what Pentagon and White House officials claim, there is no evidence that WikiLeaks has put anyone's life in danger. The evidence presented by WikiLeaks is embarrassing, not life-threatening.
In advance of publication, WikiLeaks invited the US government to identify any documents that could potentially put individuals at risk. The US declined to do so. Despite this snub, WikiLeaks appears to have mostly acted responsibly by redacting and withholding certain documents. Where, in some cases, they have not protected the identities of individual people at risk, such as in Afghanistan, this is deplorable and wrong.
Washington is angry because the manifest contradictions between its public and private stances have been exposed by the on-going leaks of diplomatic cables. They show a clear lack of government accountability, honesty and transparency.
The WikiLeaks controversy is, first and foremost, a battle between state secrecy and misinformation on the one hand, and the public's right to know on the other hand. It's a freedom of information issue.
The allegations of sex abuse against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, are
something different - and worrying. They were made some months after WikiLeaks had previously embarrassed the US by exposing its war crimes and cover-ups in Iraq. Mere coincidence? Possibly.
Julian Assange is accused of rape. These allegations must be taken seriously. He might be guilty of sex crimes. If so, he should face prosecution and punishment, just like anyone else.
So far, however, he has not been charged with any offence and these rape allegations were previously dismissed in August by the Swedish prosecuting authorities. For the moment, he is innocent until proven guilty.
Although the charges against Assange look like a fix to silence and discredit him, there may be truth in them. It is impossible to be sure either way. However, what is beyond question is that some top people in the US are out for revenge. They want to destroy Assange and WikiLeaks.
Meanwhile, major war criminals and human rights abusers roam free. No judge dares touch them. But a non-violent campaigner like Assange feels the full force of the law. A man who exposes war crimes faces criminal indictment, yet the people and governments who perpetrated these crimes do not. Double standards or what?
Is the US seeking to frame Julian Assange? In the 1970s, they tried to discredit the heroic Vietnam war whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. A plan was hatched to portray him as mentally unstable. Are the charges against Assange a re-run of what they tried to do to Ellsberg? We don't know. Maybe. Maybe not.
The decision by a British judge to deny bail to Julian Assange looks vindictive and unjustified. Assange is not a dangerous, hardened criminal. He should have got bail. People charged with robberies, assaults and sexual crimes are often bailed. Assange is well known and not able to easily disappear. The chances of him absconding are slight. So why the hardline denial of bail in his case?
Is the judge an establishment stooge? Was he pressured to remand Assange in custody? Or did he conclude, of his own free will, that it is appropriate to refuse Assange bail?
Perhaps the judge sincerely believes that the sex allegations against Assange are credible - and, in addition, that Assange is a grave threat to public order and national security, who is unfit to remain free until he is extradited and put on trial. If so, in my opinion, the judge has lost his moral bearings and his sense of reality and proportion.
The US-inspired blocking of donations to WikiLeaks and the attempts to deny WikiLeaks internet access are outrageous infringements of press freedom, civil rights and freedom of expression. As of now, WikiLeaks has not been found guilty of any crime. Yet some governments and major corporations are acting as if the whistleblowing website is a proven criminal organisation.
The US appears to have successfully pressured Amazon, Visa, Mastercard and PayPal to withdraw their services from WikiLeaks. The Swiss bank PostFinance has closed Assange's personal account. This is a politically motivated witch-hunt that is attempting to use economic pressure to silence WikiLeaks.
Congratulations to Operation Payback and the Anonymous hacktivists. They are right to hit back at the people who have attempted to drive WikiLeaks off the internet and cut its funding. This suppression and censorship has to be resisted, by any reasonable, non-violent means necessary.
Limited, qualified cyber attacks are legitimate forms of protest against the way some corporations have victimised WikiLeaks, apparently under pressure from the US government. If Washington can lean on these corporations, why shouldn't the defenders of WikiLeaks retaliate and exert pressure on them in the other direction?
We, the people, have a right to know what governments are secretly saying and doing, in our name and allegedly in our interests. The government, police, security services and judges are our servants. We are not pawns in their power games, to be manipulated and hoodwinked.
All power to WikiLeaks for shining a light on the duplicity of the US government. Thanks to WikiLeaks we now have clear evidence that the US frequently says one thing in public and something different in private - and that it cosies up to tyrants, and ignores or acquiesces in human rights abuses. Bravo WikiLeaks and Julian Assange!
Royal Norwegian Embassy bails gender activists with responsive funding
As confusion continues to linger over the prospects of women empowerment programmes, the Royal Norwegian Embassy has stepped in to help Malawian Civil Society Organisations carry on with their programmes through the NGO-GCN moderated Response Fund.
Through the fund, provided annually to NGO-GCN to fill prevalent gaps, NGOs such as the Association of Progressive Women (APW) have been able to carry out women empowerment programmes in Mwanza, Chikhwawa and Rumphi districts.
This has proved to be the much needed relief, as government continues to put its foot down over CSOs concerns that it (government) cannot be the facilitator and, at the same time, implementer of gender programmes.
Meanwhile, the Royal Norwegian Embassy is withholding K100 million meant for women empowerment programmes due to the stand off.
Through the fund, provided annually to NGO-GCN to fill prevalent gaps, NGOs such as the Association of Progressive Women (APW) have been able to carry out women empowerment programmes in Mwanza, Chikhwawa and Rumphi districts.
This has proved to be the much needed relief, as government continues to put its foot down over CSOs concerns that it (government) cannot be the facilitator and, at the same time, implementer of gender programmes.
Meanwhile, the Royal Norwegian Embassy is withholding K100 million meant for women empowerment programmes due to the stand off.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Today is Human Rights Day; Let's Forget About Handcuffs; Embrace Freedom
All prisoners of conscience,
And, otherwise, prisoners.
Be of good cheer.
Times come when chains and handcuffS fall off,
And drops of air settle somewhere,
Above your nose.
Somewhere,
Below the tear-drops.
Shame! Malawian human rights activists fight over T-shirts in Blantyre
It was all shame at Victoria (Old Town) Hall in Blantyre as human rights activists marked cerebrations marking the International Human Rights Day with blows.
Fighting over T-shirts: Is it a human right?
The self-proclaimed activists, drawn from various human rights NGOs and Civil Society Organisations based in Blantyre, started the day by exchanging bitter words over suspicions that those entrusted with the responsibility of distributing T-shirts (written: Rights Defender, and featuring men and women with raised arms) wanted to ‘pilfer’ some T-shirts.
It all started when the man distributing the T-shirts (name withheld) refused to give some 12 people from Nancholi and Zingwangwa Townships the same, ostensibly because the T-shirts were reserved for only “human rights activists well known in Malawi”.
However, the dejected Nancholi and Zingwangwa town-shippers – as well as other well known human rights activists- were surprised to see the T-shirt distributors (themselves respected activists) give out T-shirts to foreign tourists, and neighbours, all of these did not have paper slots given before hand to people who were entitled to t-shirts.
All hell then went loose as one of the activists demanded that everyone present be given T-shirts, adding that human rights days were for all citizens since these rights are universal. Four activists then rushed to the silver salon car carrying the T-shirts, demanding that such materials be distribute equally.
Order please!: Elsewhere, matchers conduct themselves with dignity
When they met resistance, they exchanged blows with other activists, before it turned into a free-for-all fight.
There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. All this happened before Police Officers earmarked to guide the match arrived.
Some of the human rights activists were then seen driving home, to the effect that only 40 matchers and hired drum beaters started off for Henry Henderson Institute Hall, the main venue for Human Rights Day activities in Blantyre.
Other Blantyre residents just watched the matchers pass, with some of them saying they wished they could join the human rights activists; adding, however, that they could not do so since all matchers had T-shirts.
“People will see us from afar, as the only people without white T-shirts, and mistake us for uninvited people. I think the idea of putting on T-shirts in bad, as it alienates others wishing to take part in such activities,” said Luis Magombo.
The self-proclaimed activists, drawn from various human rights NGOs and Civil Society Organisations based in Blantyre, started the day by exchanging bitter words over suspicions that those entrusted with the responsibility of distributing T-shirts (written: Rights Defender, and featuring men and women with raised arms) wanted to ‘pilfer’ some T-shirts.
It all started when the man distributing the T-shirts (name withheld) refused to give some 12 people from Nancholi and Zingwangwa Townships the same, ostensibly because the T-shirts were reserved for only “human rights activists well known in Malawi”.
However, the dejected Nancholi and Zingwangwa town-shippers – as well as other well known human rights activists- were surprised to see the T-shirt distributors (themselves respected activists) give out T-shirts to foreign tourists, and neighbours, all of these did not have paper slots given before hand to people who were entitled to t-shirts.
All hell then went loose as one of the activists demanded that everyone present be given T-shirts, adding that human rights days were for all citizens since these rights are universal. Four activists then rushed to the silver salon car carrying the T-shirts, demanding that such materials be distribute equally.
When they met resistance, they exchanged blows with other activists, before it turned into a free-for-all fight.
There were no immediate reports of serious injuries. All this happened before Police Officers earmarked to guide the match arrived.
Some of the human rights activists were then seen driving home, to the effect that only 40 matchers and hired drum beaters started off for Henry Henderson Institute Hall, the main venue for Human Rights Day activities in Blantyre.
Other Blantyre residents just watched the matchers pass, with some of them saying they wished they could join the human rights activists; adding, however, that they could not do so since all matchers had T-shirts.
“People will see us from afar, as the only people without white T-shirts, and mistake us for uninvited people. I think the idea of putting on T-shirts in bad, as it alienates others wishing to take part in such activities,” said Luis Magombo.
"I warned Steven Monjeza, he was adamant", says Tiwonge 'Aunt Tiwo' Chimbalanga
Tionge Chimbalanga: Monjeza was adamant
Tiwonge Chimbalanga, convicted and pardoned earlier this year for staging Malawi’s first ever gay engagement, has spoken out about his estranged partner, Steven Monjeza, saying he (Chimbalanga) warned him about the adverse effects of back tracking from the decision he (Monjeza) had earlier made to marry the former.
Malawi's first open gay couple of Steven Monjeza (right) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga
Chimbalanga and Monjeza attracted local and international attention when they organized a gay engagement in December 2010, a decision that culminated in their arrest, conviction and sentencing to 14 years imprisonment.
Malawi’s President, Bingu wa Mutharika, later pardoned them, having bowed to pressure from local and international human rights activists. His decision followed a meeting with United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, who took it upon himself to announce to the Malawi Parliament that Monjeza and Chimbalanga had been pardoned.
Chimbalanga and Monjeza later separated, after the latter announced his decision to disassociate himself with Aunt Tiwo. Monjeza then married his sweet-heart, Gloria Gulo.
The new marriage did not live up to expectations, however, as the two separated.
“She (Gloria) just wanted to have a piece of my money. Now that the money I had is gone, she is gone, too; I hear she is now running around,” lamented Monjeza earlier this year.
Monjeza then got into the habit of brushing against the law, as he started stealing people’s property such as cellphones, maize bags, among others.
Twice, Monjeza was caught on the wrong side of the law at Machinjiri Magistrates’ Court but was luky to get away with suspended sentences and warnings to check on his thieving behavior.
Nevertheless, when such behavior continued, Monjeza was later convicted and sentenced to a custodial sentence- Imprisonment with Hard Labour- and is now serving serving.
Zachimalawi wanted to know how Chimbalanga felt, and caught up with him around 11 O’clock in Blantyre. This was after information reached Zachimalawi from Lilongwe that Chimbalanga had boarded an Axa Executive Coach and would be arriving in Blantyre (next to Blantyre Post Office) around 11 O’clock in the morning.
Tiwonge Chimbalanga (right) and Steven Monjeza enjured public ridicule during their trial
Aunt Tiwo told Zachimalawi he was pressed on time, and wanted to know if it would be okay to talk while walking (towards a brown Toyota Prado packed some 40 metres away). We said it was alright, sine there was no prior arrangement (appointment) to talk to him.
Said Chimbalanga: “The thing is, I warned him about the path he was taking. Actually, I pleaded with him not to do what he planned to do (move away and do his own thing) but he was adamant. I even asked him if he knew what he was doing because I felt that, with our experience, the road would be strewn with thorns and problems.”
Chimbalanga added that he felt “bad” when Monjeza started telling members of the press that he was being forced to behave like a homosexual by human rights activists, wondering whether human rights activists forced them to organize Malawi’s first-ever public gay engagement, too.
“Nobody forced us to do what we did; we knew we were doing the right thing. However, I think he (Monjeza) succumbed to public pressure and did things against his heart.”
Chimbalanga then opened his arms to the man waiting in the brown Toyota Prado..the chat was over.
He, however, promised to spare some time for an exclusive interview spanning over two hours.
Meanwhile, as at now, Chimbalanga is in Blantyre.
Many people expected that he would be part of the Human Rights Day march in Blantyre. Today, December 10, is Human Rights Day, and activists started matching from Victoria (Old Town) Hall in Blantyre around 8 O’clock this morning; main activities will take place at Henry Henderson Institute Hall.
But Chimbalanga was conspicuously missing from the matchers.
‘Aunt Tiwo’ in Blantyre at last
Tiwonge Chimbalanga, popularly known as ‘Aunt Tiwo, arrived in Blantyre yesterday (Thursday) around 11:20AM, immediately drawing attention to himself as he disembarked from an Axa Executive Coach near Blantyre Post Office.
Chimbalanga was clad in traditional wear. From afar, the short he wore looked like a skirt; however, at close range, one came to grips with the fact that it was a long short, which ostensibly matched well with the colourful top.
Aunt Tiwo, whose lips were dressed with red, said he was happy to be in Blantyre at last, and said he hoped people would not mock “me for what I am”.
“I am here in Blantyre at last. And I happy to be here, and to be what I am. Nothing, not even mocking people, will ever change me,” said Chimbalanga in a brief interview with Zachimalawi.
He then rushed to a waiting Toyota Prado, brown in colour, hugged the driver warmly for some 40 seconds, and jumped into the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Blantyre Post Office came to a stand-still as people jostled to have a look at ‘Aunt’ Tiwo. Others, however, laughed mockingly, as Chimbalanga wriggled his waist, and walked towards the Toyota Prado unperturbed.
“With time, these people will realize how wrong they were all this wrong. I don’t see the problem with me; actually, I don’t understand them- why they just can’t mind their own business,” said Chimbalanga as he rushed towards the vehicle, promising to grant Zachimalawi an exclusive two-hours interview once “my spirits are down”.
‘Aunt Tiwo’ spoke to Zachimalawi for only four minutes.
Chimbalanga came into the limelight along with Steven Monjeza when they organised Malawi's ever same-sex engagement.
They were later convicted to 14 years imprisonment by Resident Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwausiwa of Blantyre Magistrates' Court.
Malawi's Head of State and Government, Bingu wa Mutharika, later pardoned the two after succumbing to pressure from the international community. Mutharika effected the decision after meeting United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon.
Chimbalanga was clad in traditional wear. From afar, the short he wore looked like a skirt; however, at close range, one came to grips with the fact that it was a long short, which ostensibly matched well with the colourful top.
Aunt Tiwo, whose lips were dressed with red, said he was happy to be in Blantyre at last, and said he hoped people would not mock “me for what I am”.
“I am here in Blantyre at last. And I happy to be here, and to be what I am. Nothing, not even mocking people, will ever change me,” said Chimbalanga in a brief interview with Zachimalawi.
He then rushed to a waiting Toyota Prado, brown in colour, hugged the driver warmly for some 40 seconds, and jumped into the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Blantyre Post Office came to a stand-still as people jostled to have a look at ‘Aunt’ Tiwo. Others, however, laughed mockingly, as Chimbalanga wriggled his waist, and walked towards the Toyota Prado unperturbed.
“With time, these people will realize how wrong they were all this wrong. I don’t see the problem with me; actually, I don’t understand them- why they just can’t mind their own business,” said Chimbalanga as he rushed towards the vehicle, promising to grant Zachimalawi an exclusive two-hours interview once “my spirits are down”.
‘Aunt Tiwo’ spoke to Zachimalawi for only four minutes.
Chimbalanga came into the limelight along with Steven Monjeza when they organised Malawi's ever same-sex engagement.
They were later convicted to 14 years imprisonment by Resident Magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwausiwa of Blantyre Magistrates' Court.
Malawi's Head of State and Government, Bingu wa Mutharika, later pardoned the two after succumbing to pressure from the international community. Mutharika effected the decision after meeting United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
John Tembo: "Treat former presidents with respect, dignity"
Malawi Congress Party (MCP) President, John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, has expressed disappointment at the treatment accorded to former President Bakili Muluzi, asking government to treat former leaders with the dignity and respect "they deserve".
Muluzi, who has a reccuring back problem following dislocated disks, has been fighting the Anti-Corruption Bureau's attempts to have him examined by an independent doctor. The graft-busting body wants to ascertain whether Muluzi is not feigning illness so he may appear in court to answer corruption charge.
Muluzi snubs such overtures.
Said Tembo: "If we treat our former leaders badly, what message are we sending to our youths, aspiring politicians?"
The MCP leader said Malawi should respect its former leaders, and not borrow a leaf from Zimbabwe, where he said opposition leaders are ill-treatment by the ruling authorities.
MCP President, John Zenus Ungapake Tembo: Treat former leaders with respect
Tembo was speaking to Zachimalawi following government's decision to deny Muluzi funding for his medical attention in South Africa.Muluzi, who has a reccuring back problem following dislocated disks, has been fighting the Anti-Corruption Bureau's attempts to have him examined by an independent doctor. The graft-busting body wants to ascertain whether Muluzi is not feigning illness so he may appear in court to answer corruption charge.
Muluzi snubs such overtures.
Said Tembo: "If we treat our former leaders badly, what message are we sending to our youths, aspiring politicians?"
The MCP leader said Malawi should respect its former leaders, and not borrow a leaf from Zimbabwe, where he said opposition leaders are ill-treatment by the ruling authorities.
Zimbabwe's flamboyant leader, Comrade Robert Mugabe
"Muluzi should be given funding. His health is a concern to all of us. Those who are in power today will one day need help from those who will take take over; what is happening here is setting a wrong precedent," said Tembo.
Life in Malawi is all about Mandede
As Ian Lizi sang the other day.
WANTED: Makwacha!
Give us Makwacha; give us life.
Former presidents deserve respect
It is sad that former President, Bakili Muluzi, is being made to run and run- yet he has a back problem that has to be treated.
It does not make sense for government to deny the former Head of State and Government funding. After all, Malawians are obliged to pay for Muluzi's medical, and otherwise, costs because he served us for ten years. That is what the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi says.
Denying him funding is thus an act of ill-will, sabotage to his health and lack of respect for people who once served us well (no matter their short-comings) and are now enjoying their retirement.
Muluzi, like all citizens of Malawi, deserves respect and honour.
After all, time will also come for those in public positions to call it quits (eitherbecause the Constitution says so, or because they know they can't do otherwise but go.
It will be bad for up-coming leaders to treat present 'heroes and heroins' with disdain and contempt.
Let us preserve our reputation as a peace loving and ever-smiling people by respecting our past leaders.
Of course, Muluzi himself treated others badly. We are talking of the likes of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
Banda, according to former personal body guard and current Deputy Minister in the Office of the President and Cabinet Sir. Nicholas Dausi, suffered greatly at the hands of United Democratic Front (UDF) zealots.
Dausi does not hide the fact that UDF diehards gave Kamuzu a tough time, searching the left side of his bed at Mudi House as the flamboyant leader slept on the right side- "only to tell him to push to the left again, so that the UDF people could search to the right".
Most of these rude 'boys' are dead though- so, they won't see the humiliation of Muluzi.
The UDF then neglected Kamuzu's grave. It is the incumbent President Professor Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika who restored Kamuzu's honour by constructing that great piece of archtechture at the City Centre in Lilongwe.
Thanks Angwazi 11.
Isn't it hypocritical to ill-treat Muluzi, therefore -after all the respect accorded to Kamuzu?
Not that Muluzi should not pay for the pain inflicted on Kamuzu. Let him pay abeat, and feel the pain. But he should also enjoy the honours of his office as former Head of State and Government.
Zachimalawi feels like Muluzi has paid for his past sins, has felt the pain, and should now enjoy the spoils.
Denying him funding is thus an act of ill-will, sabotage to his health and lack of respect for people who once served us well (no matter their short-comings) and are now enjoying their retirement.
Muluzi, like all citizens of Malawi, deserves respect and honour.
After all, time will also come for those in public positions to call it quits (eitherbecause the Constitution says so, or because they know they can't do otherwise but go.
It will be bad for up-coming leaders to treat present 'heroes and heroins' with disdain and contempt.
Let us preserve our reputation as a peace loving and ever-smiling people by respecting our past leaders.
Of course, Muluzi himself treated others badly. We are talking of the likes of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
Banda, according to former personal body guard and current Deputy Minister in the Office of the President and Cabinet Sir. Nicholas Dausi, suffered greatly at the hands of United Democratic Front (UDF) zealots.
Dausi does not hide the fact that UDF diehards gave Kamuzu a tough time, searching the left side of his bed at Mudi House as the flamboyant leader slept on the right side- "only to tell him to push to the left again, so that the UDF people could search to the right".
Most of these rude 'boys' are dead though- so, they won't see the humiliation of Muluzi.
The UDF then neglected Kamuzu's grave. It is the incumbent President Professor Ngwazi Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika who restored Kamuzu's honour by constructing that great piece of archtechture at the City Centre in Lilongwe.
Thanks Angwazi 11.
Isn't it hypocritical to ill-treat Muluzi, therefore -after all the respect accorded to Kamuzu?
Not that Muluzi should not pay for the pain inflicted on Kamuzu. Let him pay abeat, and feel the pain. But he should also enjoy the honours of his office as former Head of State and Government.
Zachimalawi feels like Muluzi has paid for his past sins, has felt the pain, and should now enjoy the spoils.
Missing Henry 'Kaka' Chibowa
Henry 'Kaka' Chibowa: Missed by the soccer flaternity
Henry 'Kaka' Chibowa will always be remembered for his role in the rescucitation of the Super League of Malawi (SULOM), after the disaster that was SULAM (for Super League Association of Malawi).
His is an impeccable record only soiled by malpractices in the SULOM Executive Committee that lost trust from the soccer flaternity, and got the deserved boot.
From SULOM President to obscurity: this could best be described as the story of this great soccer fan.
Through thick and thin, though, Chibowa has always remained a Nomad- yes, a member of the Blue-and-White family that 'cools down' at the famous Lali Lubani Road in Blantyre- A.K.A Mighty MTL Wanderers Football Club.
As Chibowa does the rounds at the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), the soccer flaternity waits with abated breath for his return to soccer.
After all, Kaka Chibowa and the SULOM Executive Committee that was forced to step down has never been found to be in the wrong.
RITES OF PASSAGE AMONG THE NGONI OF MALAWI
By Richard Chirombo
When did Ngoni culture die? Is it when some of the tribe’s strongest members died at the beck and call of pure greed when, in that moment of temporary madness, they pounced on partially-cooked wild beans (locally known as Kalongonda) left by the Lhomwe in the latter’s fright for dear life, or the moment they abandoned their bows, arrows, and war-mongering and quickly adopted the traditions of the very tribes they conquered? For 98 year-old Donarta Maziya of Kauye Village in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kamenyagwaza in Dedza, suggestions that Ngoni culture is dead are a fallacy: the eleven beauty marks marking the length and breadth of her wrinkled face being a mark of the invincibility of that culture. Just last year (2009), she lost her younger sister and mourned her for four months using the Ngoni sorrowful cry for women ‘Muyene wame muyene’. Soon, she takes that same path (to the grave), but is convinced that she will go in full Ngoni honours, moarned the Ngoni way; in fact, she is convinced that, to a large extent, inter-marriages and settlement among other tribes of Malawi has left Ngoni culture unscathed, and this is evident in such Ngoni strongholds as Ntcheu, Dedza and Mchinji in the Central region, Mzimba in the North and Bvumbwe, Thyolo, in the Southern region. Ngoni remnants pay strict observance to ceremonies signifying the progression of a child from one stage of life to another; stages still marked by colourful rites. A visit to T/A Bvumbwe’s court in Thyolo revealed that the Ngoni still attach strong meaning to birth, puberty, the post-puberty period, marriage, senility, death and ancestral worship, though contact with Western and Asian religions has drastically reduced their emotional attachment to their ancestors.
Birth is not the beginning of life; it is the continuation of Ngoni culture. This principle applies everywhere; whether it is among the Ngoni of Zungendaba in Kasungu, or Mputa Ngonis at Domwe in Dowa, in Ntcheu or Dedza1- the child is more than just another life, and deserves maximum attention and protection. This begins with the maternity hut, which is ‘fortified’ by herbal medicine to prevent witches from casting a bad spell on the mother, leading to still-birth2.Access to the hut is restricted to elderly women and community birth attendants (even the husband is denied entry), until after discharge of the umbilical cord, which marks the official completion of the labour process. A female child is given a small pillow filled with herbal medicine and charms, and attached to a string the child wears around the waist, while the male child is given a small herbal medicine-saturated pillow wore around the neck for protection from spells of bad luck, misfortune and disease. The mother is given advice on how best to take care of the child, and her growing role in the family and society. In cultures where bride pricing (dowry) is still valued, such as Mzimba in the Northern region3, the husband’s side reserves the right to name the child, while in areas where dowry is out of date- either because of intermarriages with other tribes or lack of resources1, members from the paternal and maternal side consult each other on what name to christen a new born4. The child is ready to face the world.
Puberty is the cross-roads of life. This is the most crucial time in the life of a Ngoni child, the time an individual progresses from fantasy to reality; in fact, Ngoni elders vouch that this is a time a child either makes or breaks in life, and that, because it is a defining moment, children be introduced to facets of culture in their entirety and wholeness5. The concoctions into responsible adulthood come in the forms of initiation, circumcision, advice, and introduction to basic Ngoni tools, including the arrow, small (thorn, because it was originally used for plucking out thorns lodged in the body) knife, axe, hoe and bow6. During initiation, the head of clan (mwinimbumba) invites elders (in case of boys) who gather in an initiation hut (often, one of the houses in the parents’ compound) and offer advice on wide-ranging issues. In the case of girls, the head of clan is merely informed by elderly women, who also gather in an initiation hut within the village and offer advice on life’s realities, including sex and relationships with members of the opposite sex. As for circumcision, the practice is not practiced among the Ngoni of Ntcheu, Dedza, Bvumbwe, Mzimba and Dowa, ostensibly because it has never been part of Ngoni culture (as traditional warriors) to circumcise the youth: what if enemies suddenly attack you?7 Generally, the words advice and initiation are used interchangeably, while circumcision is not regarded as Ngoni culture and is thus best dismissed.
If puberty introduces an individual to the ‘wholesome’ world7, then post-puberty activities determine the worthiness of an individual to remain a human being. Getting out of the initiation hut represents one’s readiness to face the world; a world where people sometimes cry (when a member of the family, distant relative or community dies), in which case the individual who has been accepted into the adult world is expected to play a contributory role according to established gender roles. For males, it means putting a hoe on the shoulder and heading for the grave yard to help others dig the final resting place. When burial has taken place, he is expected to quickly sweep the hoe over fire prepared for the task to ‘kill’ evil spirits that may cling to the grave-digging implement and ‘kill’ one more ‘innocent soul”8. Females have their roles, too, and these revolve around domestic chores like cooking, washing, fetching water and firewood, and comforting bereaved members of a family or clan. During times of cerebration, such as marriage, ceremonial beer, among others, females engage in their usual chores: cooking, fetching water, ululating, clapping hands for chiefs and other village elders, rearing children, nursing the sick, tendering crops, among others, while men are expected to become experts at beating the drum for such Ngoni dances as Ingoma, Ziwedewede (a jovial dance in Dedza and Ntcheu) and Mganda. It is during the post-puberty period that boys and girls are allocated their own small huts (called gowelo or mphala), located within their parents or guardians’ compound for loose monitoring of their behavior and sexual tendencies- for girls are advised to stay away from members of the opposite sex while, at the same time, being encouraged not to ‘keep their distance’ from their cousins (as these are treated as their husbands in districts such as Dedza, Thyolo, Dowa and Ntcheu. Thus sexual intercourse between cousins is indiscreetly sanctioned).
Marriage is the concrete curtain that separates men from boys. In other words, Ngoni tribesmen and women believe that real honour, derived from the complete enjoyment of privacy and the ability to look after other people, is attained after marriage, and this explains why three-quarters of current Ngoni chiefs are married, while those who are not married are either acting in that capacity, are widowed, or have been installed while pursuing further education (such as T/A Gomani of Ntcheu, where Swazi, a boy of less than 20 years, was installed last year after his father’s death)9. Otherwise, the bushy path towards marriage is paved by the same processes, namely: courting, engagement, marriage, child bearing (if possible) and child rearing. A Ngoni tribesman will not propose (ask if a woman of his heart will marry him) someone he has been courting (the way Westerners do); he proposes someone he either falls in love with at first sight, or has been observing for a time. That is real love, the Ngoni way, not the way Westerners get it all wrong: to propose your own woman is a weakness9. When a man finds a woman, and seeks her hand in marriage, he informs his uncle, who goes to the woman’s side to meet her uncle, after which engagement (which until recently meant marriage) preparations take place and, subsequently, marriage. In Mzimba, the children belong to the father’s side because of the tradition of dowry- which means that, in case the husband, or wife, dies, the children remain in the hands of their father’s relations; in Ntcheu, Mchinji, Dedza, Thyolo and Dowa, both sides discuss and decide on who takes care of the children- meaning, inheritance and adoption issues are mostly amicably settled. In cases of chieftaincy, the eldest son to the deceased chief’s wife (for Ngoni are by tradition polygamous people, though that is not common in the Central and Southern region) inherits the kingdom.
Ngonis neither die, pass away nor pass on. This belief has sustained the culture of burying important Ngoni figures, including chiefs and senior counselors, in a life-like position (principally, in a seated position)- a tradition adopted from Zululand (Kwazulu Natal) in South Africa and Swaziland, the original homes of the Ngoni. Ngoni people burry their leaders in a seated position so that they may ‘observe’ (actually, spy on) enemy armies, perpetuating the belief that Ngonis never die but live on to play watchful roles over the living. When suspicious deaths occur, some Ngonis still consult witch-doctors to establish the ‘real’ cause of the death. Among other rituals still observed is the practice of throwing dust into the grave of the deceased (this applies to children, specifically) to prevent the problem of nightmares as well as speeding up the process of recovering from shock associated with the death, apart from the process of mourning the departed personality (kukhuza maliro- where female relatives of the dead wake up as early as 4 O’clock in the morning to perform ceremonial mourning) for a period of between two to four months 10. Relatives of the deceased are also encouraged to rub medicated water in their faces to wash away bad spells that might have been cast by ‘evil-minded’ individuals wishing the family bad luck, after which the head of clan and other senior members of the family sit down to discuss the fate of children, wife (if the deceased is a husband) and property; issues such as education and medical care for children are also taken care of, with one of the senior relations allocated the responsibility11.
Old age (senility) is for women. A true Ngoni man will avoid two ‘womanly’ things: crying (though at funerals he screams ‘Mayi wawaye’; it is just a plastic cry because a real Ngoni man sheds no tears), and getting old. It must be noted that while it remains a fact that human beings reach a stage in life where their physical strength fails them, and they succumb to old age, what the Ngoni mean by claiming that men never get old applies to the mind’s abilities and experience; meaning, ageing Ngonis still maintain the will of a warrior and never lose their experiences and skills, accumulated through long days in the sun and many years of combat. This perception might have developed during their early years of war, combat, conquest, invasion and destruction of feeble tribes. However, the eventuality of old age has finally come to be accepted as normal, now that Ngonis have settled peacefully among other tribes, and tactics of warfare have changed with the advent of modern weaponry. Nevertheless, there are no specific rites attached to one’s passage into old age, though the accepted norm is for village elders or clan heads to take advantage of the death of a bread-winner, gather all relations over a gourdful of beer and remind them of the responsibility they have in taking care of ageing members- which generally means the provision of farm inputs and clothing. In Ntcheu, Dedza, Mchinji, Dowa, Thyolo and Mzimba, community members also take turns to assist the aged by organizing beer sessions (commonly referred to as mowa waudzu, mowa wamunda, mowa wa dzuwa, according to the purpose of the occasion: community members either contribute in cash, when they buy the beer, or in kind, when they provide the wanted materials like grass for thatching the house of an aged person, or supplying manual labour in the senile member’s garden). Old people have also established an enviable role for themselves in Ngoni society: they act as history and folklore tellers, advice givers, and custodians of culture with the effect that they rarely sleep alone in their huts as children (grandchildren) find a place for a night’s rest in their huts. Like all Malawian societies, however, ageing has its own problems, topping which being the fact that old people are often accused of practicing, or teaching children, witchcraft- an unfounded accusation that has occasioned into cases of victimization.
Ancestors are never barren. Even if individuals leave no children or property behind, they become rich, caring ‘guardian angels’ after their death, even endowed with the power to communicate with early ancestors who “sit on the rain clouds”12 and bring rains in times of drought; even if they were a paramount chief, they become voluntary watchmen, watching and warning the living of possible danger. If need be, the dead even pick up their war instruments and throw an arrow at invaders. To that end, dead people are regarded in high esteem. When a deceased individual appears to a close relation in a dream holding something (for instance, a curtain, or beckons with stretched hands), it is translated as a gesture of want. The individual who beheld the dream thus informs the head of the clan, and a party (accompanied by locally-brewed beer) is thrown with the aim of ‘settling’ the spirit of the deceased ‘down’ (locally known as Kugoneka mizimu pansi)13. Others also believe that when food falls down from a plate or an individual’s hands, it is a sign that ancestors’ spirits are hungry; members of the tribe are thus advised not to pick up, or gather, food pieces that have fallen down so that, when ants devour such food stuffs, it is widely regarded as an acceptance gesture by the spirits.
In the end, it is clear that various aspects of Ngoni culture remain intact. Though the Ngoni of Malawi have largely lost touch with their original language, they continue to value many aspects of their culture by still observing requisite rites during various stages of life. This is seen, to a large extent, during occasions marking the birth of children, puberty, marriage, senility, death and ancestral worship. Ngoni cultural displays, observed during the installation of chiefs and such events as Um’theto in Mzimba (Northern region), are a giant step towards maintaining crucial aspects of Ngoni culture, and stand to enrich Malawi’s cultural diversity.
REFERENCES
Bvumbwe, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (4)
Ganya, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (12)
Kamenyagwaza, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (6)
Kanchindamoto, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (7)
Kanduku, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (5)
Kanjuli, Village Headman. In an interview. (10)
Kauye, Vilage Headman. In an interview. (2)
Kwataine, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (11)
M’mbelwa, Imkosi ya Makosi. In an interview. (3)
M’n’gona, Group Village Headman. In an interview. (13)
Mkanda, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (9)
Mtwalo, Imkosi ya Makosi. In an interview. (8)
Philip, K.,D,. (1955), Onani Angoni. Blantyre: McMillan Malawi Limited. Pp., 29-40 (1)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Kamwaza, H.,J., Senior Comprehensive History of Central Africa,(2007) Blantyre: Claim Publications
2. Philip, K., D., Onani Angoni, (1955, 1998). Blantyre: McMillan Malawi Limited
3. Phiri, D., D., From Nguni to Ngoni, (1982).Lilongwe: Likuni Publishing House
4. Shillington, K., History of Africa (Revised 2nd Edition), (2005). Blantyre: McMillan Education
Birth is not the beginning of life; it is the continuation of Ngoni culture. This principle applies everywhere; whether it is among the Ngoni of Zungendaba in Kasungu, or Mputa Ngonis at Domwe in Dowa, in Ntcheu or Dedza1- the child is more than just another life, and deserves maximum attention and protection. This begins with the maternity hut, which is ‘fortified’ by herbal medicine to prevent witches from casting a bad spell on the mother, leading to still-birth2.Access to the hut is restricted to elderly women and community birth attendants (even the husband is denied entry), until after discharge of the umbilical cord, which marks the official completion of the labour process. A female child is given a small pillow filled with herbal medicine and charms, and attached to a string the child wears around the waist, while the male child is given a small herbal medicine-saturated pillow wore around the neck for protection from spells of bad luck, misfortune and disease. The mother is given advice on how best to take care of the child, and her growing role in the family and society. In cultures where bride pricing (dowry) is still valued, such as Mzimba in the Northern region3, the husband’s side reserves the right to name the child, while in areas where dowry is out of date- either because of intermarriages with other tribes or lack of resources1, members from the paternal and maternal side consult each other on what name to christen a new born4. The child is ready to face the world.
Puberty is the cross-roads of life. This is the most crucial time in the life of a Ngoni child, the time an individual progresses from fantasy to reality; in fact, Ngoni elders vouch that this is a time a child either makes or breaks in life, and that, because it is a defining moment, children be introduced to facets of culture in their entirety and wholeness5. The concoctions into responsible adulthood come in the forms of initiation, circumcision, advice, and introduction to basic Ngoni tools, including the arrow, small (thorn, because it was originally used for plucking out thorns lodged in the body) knife, axe, hoe and bow6. During initiation, the head of clan (mwinimbumba) invites elders (in case of boys) who gather in an initiation hut (often, one of the houses in the parents’ compound) and offer advice on wide-ranging issues. In the case of girls, the head of clan is merely informed by elderly women, who also gather in an initiation hut within the village and offer advice on life’s realities, including sex and relationships with members of the opposite sex. As for circumcision, the practice is not practiced among the Ngoni of Ntcheu, Dedza, Bvumbwe, Mzimba and Dowa, ostensibly because it has never been part of Ngoni culture (as traditional warriors) to circumcise the youth: what if enemies suddenly attack you?7 Generally, the words advice and initiation are used interchangeably, while circumcision is not regarded as Ngoni culture and is thus best dismissed.
If puberty introduces an individual to the ‘wholesome’ world7, then post-puberty activities determine the worthiness of an individual to remain a human being. Getting out of the initiation hut represents one’s readiness to face the world; a world where people sometimes cry (when a member of the family, distant relative or community dies), in which case the individual who has been accepted into the adult world is expected to play a contributory role according to established gender roles. For males, it means putting a hoe on the shoulder and heading for the grave yard to help others dig the final resting place. When burial has taken place, he is expected to quickly sweep the hoe over fire prepared for the task to ‘kill’ evil spirits that may cling to the grave-digging implement and ‘kill’ one more ‘innocent soul”8. Females have their roles, too, and these revolve around domestic chores like cooking, washing, fetching water and firewood, and comforting bereaved members of a family or clan. During times of cerebration, such as marriage, ceremonial beer, among others, females engage in their usual chores: cooking, fetching water, ululating, clapping hands for chiefs and other village elders, rearing children, nursing the sick, tendering crops, among others, while men are expected to become experts at beating the drum for such Ngoni dances as Ingoma, Ziwedewede (a jovial dance in Dedza and Ntcheu) and Mganda. It is during the post-puberty period that boys and girls are allocated their own small huts (called gowelo or mphala), located within their parents or guardians’ compound for loose monitoring of their behavior and sexual tendencies- for girls are advised to stay away from members of the opposite sex while, at the same time, being encouraged not to ‘keep their distance’ from their cousins (as these are treated as their husbands in districts such as Dedza, Thyolo, Dowa and Ntcheu. Thus sexual intercourse between cousins is indiscreetly sanctioned).
Marriage is the concrete curtain that separates men from boys. In other words, Ngoni tribesmen and women believe that real honour, derived from the complete enjoyment of privacy and the ability to look after other people, is attained after marriage, and this explains why three-quarters of current Ngoni chiefs are married, while those who are not married are either acting in that capacity, are widowed, or have been installed while pursuing further education (such as T/A Gomani of Ntcheu, where Swazi, a boy of less than 20 years, was installed last year after his father’s death)9. Otherwise, the bushy path towards marriage is paved by the same processes, namely: courting, engagement, marriage, child bearing (if possible) and child rearing. A Ngoni tribesman will not propose (ask if a woman of his heart will marry him) someone he has been courting (the way Westerners do); he proposes someone he either falls in love with at first sight, or has been observing for a time. That is real love, the Ngoni way, not the way Westerners get it all wrong: to propose your own woman is a weakness9. When a man finds a woman, and seeks her hand in marriage, he informs his uncle, who goes to the woman’s side to meet her uncle, after which engagement (which until recently meant marriage) preparations take place and, subsequently, marriage. In Mzimba, the children belong to the father’s side because of the tradition of dowry- which means that, in case the husband, or wife, dies, the children remain in the hands of their father’s relations; in Ntcheu, Mchinji, Dedza, Thyolo and Dowa, both sides discuss and decide on who takes care of the children- meaning, inheritance and adoption issues are mostly amicably settled. In cases of chieftaincy, the eldest son to the deceased chief’s wife (for Ngoni are by tradition polygamous people, though that is not common in the Central and Southern region) inherits the kingdom.
Ngonis neither die, pass away nor pass on. This belief has sustained the culture of burying important Ngoni figures, including chiefs and senior counselors, in a life-like position (principally, in a seated position)- a tradition adopted from Zululand (Kwazulu Natal) in South Africa and Swaziland, the original homes of the Ngoni. Ngoni people burry their leaders in a seated position so that they may ‘observe’ (actually, spy on) enemy armies, perpetuating the belief that Ngonis never die but live on to play watchful roles over the living. When suspicious deaths occur, some Ngonis still consult witch-doctors to establish the ‘real’ cause of the death. Among other rituals still observed is the practice of throwing dust into the grave of the deceased (this applies to children, specifically) to prevent the problem of nightmares as well as speeding up the process of recovering from shock associated with the death, apart from the process of mourning the departed personality (kukhuza maliro- where female relatives of the dead wake up as early as 4 O’clock in the morning to perform ceremonial mourning) for a period of between two to four months 10. Relatives of the deceased are also encouraged to rub medicated water in their faces to wash away bad spells that might have been cast by ‘evil-minded’ individuals wishing the family bad luck, after which the head of clan and other senior members of the family sit down to discuss the fate of children, wife (if the deceased is a husband) and property; issues such as education and medical care for children are also taken care of, with one of the senior relations allocated the responsibility11.
Old age (senility) is for women. A true Ngoni man will avoid two ‘womanly’ things: crying (though at funerals he screams ‘Mayi wawaye’; it is just a plastic cry because a real Ngoni man sheds no tears), and getting old. It must be noted that while it remains a fact that human beings reach a stage in life where their physical strength fails them, and they succumb to old age, what the Ngoni mean by claiming that men never get old applies to the mind’s abilities and experience; meaning, ageing Ngonis still maintain the will of a warrior and never lose their experiences and skills, accumulated through long days in the sun and many years of combat. This perception might have developed during their early years of war, combat, conquest, invasion and destruction of feeble tribes. However, the eventuality of old age has finally come to be accepted as normal, now that Ngonis have settled peacefully among other tribes, and tactics of warfare have changed with the advent of modern weaponry. Nevertheless, there are no specific rites attached to one’s passage into old age, though the accepted norm is for village elders or clan heads to take advantage of the death of a bread-winner, gather all relations over a gourdful of beer and remind them of the responsibility they have in taking care of ageing members- which generally means the provision of farm inputs and clothing. In Ntcheu, Dedza, Mchinji, Dowa, Thyolo and Mzimba, community members also take turns to assist the aged by organizing beer sessions (commonly referred to as mowa waudzu, mowa wamunda, mowa wa dzuwa, according to the purpose of the occasion: community members either contribute in cash, when they buy the beer, or in kind, when they provide the wanted materials like grass for thatching the house of an aged person, or supplying manual labour in the senile member’s garden). Old people have also established an enviable role for themselves in Ngoni society: they act as history and folklore tellers, advice givers, and custodians of culture with the effect that they rarely sleep alone in their huts as children (grandchildren) find a place for a night’s rest in their huts. Like all Malawian societies, however, ageing has its own problems, topping which being the fact that old people are often accused of practicing, or teaching children, witchcraft- an unfounded accusation that has occasioned into cases of victimization.
Ancestors are never barren. Even if individuals leave no children or property behind, they become rich, caring ‘guardian angels’ after their death, even endowed with the power to communicate with early ancestors who “sit on the rain clouds”12 and bring rains in times of drought; even if they were a paramount chief, they become voluntary watchmen, watching and warning the living of possible danger. If need be, the dead even pick up their war instruments and throw an arrow at invaders. To that end, dead people are regarded in high esteem. When a deceased individual appears to a close relation in a dream holding something (for instance, a curtain, or beckons with stretched hands), it is translated as a gesture of want. The individual who beheld the dream thus informs the head of the clan, and a party (accompanied by locally-brewed beer) is thrown with the aim of ‘settling’ the spirit of the deceased ‘down’ (locally known as Kugoneka mizimu pansi)13. Others also believe that when food falls down from a plate or an individual’s hands, it is a sign that ancestors’ spirits are hungry; members of the tribe are thus advised not to pick up, or gather, food pieces that have fallen down so that, when ants devour such food stuffs, it is widely regarded as an acceptance gesture by the spirits.
In the end, it is clear that various aspects of Ngoni culture remain intact. Though the Ngoni of Malawi have largely lost touch with their original language, they continue to value many aspects of their culture by still observing requisite rites during various stages of life. This is seen, to a large extent, during occasions marking the birth of children, puberty, marriage, senility, death and ancestral worship. Ngoni cultural displays, observed during the installation of chiefs and such events as Um’theto in Mzimba (Northern region), are a giant step towards maintaining crucial aspects of Ngoni culture, and stand to enrich Malawi’s cultural diversity.
REFERENCES
Bvumbwe, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (4)
Ganya, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (12)
Kamenyagwaza, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (6)
Kanchindamoto, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (7)
Kanduku, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (5)
Kanjuli, Village Headman. In an interview. (10)
Kauye, Vilage Headman. In an interview. (2)
Kwataine, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (11)
M’mbelwa, Imkosi ya Makosi. In an interview. (3)
M’n’gona, Group Village Headman. In an interview. (13)
Mkanda, Traditional Authority. In an interview. (9)
Mtwalo, Imkosi ya Makosi. In an interview. (8)
Philip, K.,D,. (1955), Onani Angoni. Blantyre: McMillan Malawi Limited. Pp., 29-40 (1)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Kamwaza, H.,J., Senior Comprehensive History of Central Africa,(2007) Blantyre: Claim Publications
2. Philip, K., D., Onani Angoni, (1955, 1998). Blantyre: McMillan Malawi Limited
3. Phiri, D., D., From Nguni to Ngoni, (1982).Lilongwe: Likuni Publishing House
4. Shillington, K., History of Africa (Revised 2nd Edition), (2005). Blantyre: McMillan Education
Bakhresa Grain and Milling (Malawi) Limited: From scratch to success
By Richard Chirombo
When Bakhresa Grain and Milling (Malawi) Limited took over the operations of Grain and Milling Company Limited (Gramil) on December 6, 2003, many doubted the rationale behind such a decision as they could not share the vision of a highly potential, viable enterprise; instead, they remembered the doom and groom that was Gramil, and dismissed all short-term possibilities of resuscitation.
After all, Bakhresa was inheriting not fortunes, but remains of an ailing company with nothing to boot in its books. An insolvent company- owing banks, foreign and local suppliers, and the Malawi Revenue Authority in excess of K500 million- has never been a good idea for investment purposes. Such was the case for Gramil.
But the new investors, Bakhresa, saw a future out of these tatters, and committed themselves to clearing the dark clouds for the grains (maize and wheat) processor, banking on vast experience from such countries as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda- the other countries with Bakhresa operations.
Bakhresa’s vote of confidence in Gramil received a seal of approval from State President, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, on May 20, 2006, when the first citizen commissioned the company’s headquarters in Limbe- ostensibly sanctioning a new era for the company.
As Bakhresa-Malawi Chief Executive Officer, Mahesh Josyabhatla, enthuses, the company has never looked back.
“Due to the favourable economic conditions prevailing in the country, consumers’ purchasing power has also increased, raising the demand for our products, including flower,” he says with a grin.
What has also changed is the fact that, whereas Malawian consumers have for decades opted for foreign products, thus sneering at Ministry of Industry and Trade’s campaign to ‘Best Buy Malawi’- a drive backed by Mutharika during this year’s International Trade Fair- this perception has also changed, in the words of the Bakhresa CEO.
”Actually, there was a time we had no room for exports when we were producing 250 metric tonnes per day. This prompted us to increase our production levels to 500 metric tonnes (current production level); this is more than Malawi can consume.”
Just on August 25, 2010, the company was in the process of exporting 1000 tonnes to Zimbabwe, but the actual demand from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member state is 2000 tonnes, pointing to huge foreign demand.
It is one good example of investment made good. However, this is not only peculiar to the Malawi scenario, as building success from scratch seems to be the age-old motivational factor behind the Bakhresa brand, a feat that dates back to the early 1970s.
Before the establishment of what has become Bakhresa Group in 1983, with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi, one boy dropped out of school at the age of 14 to start a humble restaurant in the port city of Dar Es Salaam. His name was Said Salim Bakhresa, the man who worked his way up the ladder from a potato mix seller, shoemaker to an accomplished industrialist.
This innovative spirit was at play when Bakhresa bid for the sinking ship that was Gramil, and won- taking over 100 per cent of the government stake in the formerly state-owned milling company. It is the company’s aggressive investment plan that did the trick and swayed the Privation Commission.
Among other initiatives, Bakhresa unveiled a business plan which included an investment commitment of not less than US$9.92 million (MK 1.09 billion) in working capital, rehabilitation and expansion of facilities during the first year of operation. This included the construction and extension of silos for the storage of wheat.
All these initiatives fed into government’s strategic plans, which included the need to identify technically competent private sector investors. It entails a company that could inject more working capital, bring in new technology, improved management, technical and marketing skills apart from initiating a massive asset rehabilitation programme for equipment that was becoming obsolete. Such a friend was found in Bakhresa.
Today, some seven years down the line, the company has surpassed all expectations. Josyabhatla says the company is now experimenting with wheat farming at its Namwera farm in Mangochi, where the grain is grown over a 470 hectares stretch of land. So serious is Bakhresa with the trial initiative that it had to summon experts from Israel.
“We are hoping that this will help reduce supply gaps, and add on to between 3000 and 5000 tones of wheat grown locally. Malawi does not produce enough wheat because of overdependence on rain-fed agriculture. The other problem is that in winter, the favourable time for wheat growing, we don’t have rains in Malawi,” laments Josyabhatla.
He challenges that Bakhresa-Malawi is ready to engage Malawian farmers on contract farming, promising to purchase all the crops harvested. He adds that the company sometimes offers higher returns than were agreed with farmers in the hope of making farming viable and attractive to locals.
To attempting to make up for supply deficiencies, the company is faced with a myriad of challenges, especially when it comes to transport wheat from its silos within the port of Nacala in Mozambique. The only viable means of transport are road and rail.
Josyabhatla says rail transport has proved too unreliable because of capacity constraints. Rail operators have so far failed to meet Bakhresa’s capacity demands while rail transportation is both expensive and hampered by poor road conditions.
This is true for the first 25 km from Muloza to Mukubwe. Though 25 trucks currently ferry wheat from Nacala to Malawi, high operational costs mean increased expenditure, a development that could have dire long-term consequences since it is customary for what processing companies to import the crop.
Except for Zambia, all countries in the region import. Only that they do not import wheat flower (because that would mean exporting employment) but wheat grain (the raw material). This has proved a plus for many countries, since they are able to attract more returns after processing.
But the story of Bakhresa-Malawi is not complete without looking at the many business portfolios the company is focusing on. This includes soap manufacturing, among others. In fact, Azam soap has become one of the country’s leading brands it is becoming overly difficult to meet growing demand.
Josyabhatla says all these developments point to innovativeness at Bakhresa, and promises more to Malawians. It is a story so inspiring one forgets the many years of Gramil’s unsatisfactory performance due to technical capacity underutilization, insufficient working capital, and over reliance on stretching credit terms with its suppliers and banks to finance its operations.
It is a story so mired in victory; a sure sign that planning never ends at Bakhresa. What with plans to expand to other parts of the country? It keeps Josyabhatla so busy most of the time.
When Bakhresa Grain and Milling (Malawi) Limited took over the operations of Grain and Milling Company Limited (Gramil) on December 6, 2003, many doubted the rationale behind such a decision as they could not share the vision of a highly potential, viable enterprise; instead, they remembered the doom and groom that was Gramil, and dismissed all short-term possibilities of resuscitation.
After all, Bakhresa was inheriting not fortunes, but remains of an ailing company with nothing to boot in its books. An insolvent company- owing banks, foreign and local suppliers, and the Malawi Revenue Authority in excess of K500 million- has never been a good idea for investment purposes. Such was the case for Gramil.
But the new investors, Bakhresa, saw a future out of these tatters, and committed themselves to clearing the dark clouds for the grains (maize and wheat) processor, banking on vast experience from such countries as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda- the other countries with Bakhresa operations.
Bakhresa’s vote of confidence in Gramil received a seal of approval from State President, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, on May 20, 2006, when the first citizen commissioned the company’s headquarters in Limbe- ostensibly sanctioning a new era for the company.
As Bakhresa-Malawi Chief Executive Officer, Mahesh Josyabhatla, enthuses, the company has never looked back.
“Due to the favourable economic conditions prevailing in the country, consumers’ purchasing power has also increased, raising the demand for our products, including flower,” he says with a grin.
What has also changed is the fact that, whereas Malawian consumers have for decades opted for foreign products, thus sneering at Ministry of Industry and Trade’s campaign to ‘Best Buy Malawi’- a drive backed by Mutharika during this year’s International Trade Fair- this perception has also changed, in the words of the Bakhresa CEO.
”Actually, there was a time we had no room for exports when we were producing 250 metric tonnes per day. This prompted us to increase our production levels to 500 metric tonnes (current production level); this is more than Malawi can consume.”
Just on August 25, 2010, the company was in the process of exporting 1000 tonnes to Zimbabwe, but the actual demand from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) member state is 2000 tonnes, pointing to huge foreign demand.
It is one good example of investment made good. However, this is not only peculiar to the Malawi scenario, as building success from scratch seems to be the age-old motivational factor behind the Bakhresa brand, a feat that dates back to the early 1970s.
Before the establishment of what has become Bakhresa Group in 1983, with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi, one boy dropped out of school at the age of 14 to start a humble restaurant in the port city of Dar Es Salaam. His name was Said Salim Bakhresa, the man who worked his way up the ladder from a potato mix seller, shoemaker to an accomplished industrialist.
This innovative spirit was at play when Bakhresa bid for the sinking ship that was Gramil, and won- taking over 100 per cent of the government stake in the formerly state-owned milling company. It is the company’s aggressive investment plan that did the trick and swayed the Privation Commission.
Among other initiatives, Bakhresa unveiled a business plan which included an investment commitment of not less than US$9.92 million (MK 1.09 billion) in working capital, rehabilitation and expansion of facilities during the first year of operation. This included the construction and extension of silos for the storage of wheat.
All these initiatives fed into government’s strategic plans, which included the need to identify technically competent private sector investors. It entails a company that could inject more working capital, bring in new technology, improved management, technical and marketing skills apart from initiating a massive asset rehabilitation programme for equipment that was becoming obsolete. Such a friend was found in Bakhresa.
Today, some seven years down the line, the company has surpassed all expectations. Josyabhatla says the company is now experimenting with wheat farming at its Namwera farm in Mangochi, where the grain is grown over a 470 hectares stretch of land. So serious is Bakhresa with the trial initiative that it had to summon experts from Israel.
“We are hoping that this will help reduce supply gaps, and add on to between 3000 and 5000 tones of wheat grown locally. Malawi does not produce enough wheat because of overdependence on rain-fed agriculture. The other problem is that in winter, the favourable time for wheat growing, we don’t have rains in Malawi,” laments Josyabhatla.
He challenges that Bakhresa-Malawi is ready to engage Malawian farmers on contract farming, promising to purchase all the crops harvested. He adds that the company sometimes offers higher returns than were agreed with farmers in the hope of making farming viable and attractive to locals.
To attempting to make up for supply deficiencies, the company is faced with a myriad of challenges, especially when it comes to transport wheat from its silos within the port of Nacala in Mozambique. The only viable means of transport are road and rail.
Josyabhatla says rail transport has proved too unreliable because of capacity constraints. Rail operators have so far failed to meet Bakhresa’s capacity demands while rail transportation is both expensive and hampered by poor road conditions.
This is true for the first 25 km from Muloza to Mukubwe. Though 25 trucks currently ferry wheat from Nacala to Malawi, high operational costs mean increased expenditure, a development that could have dire long-term consequences since it is customary for what processing companies to import the crop.
Except for Zambia, all countries in the region import. Only that they do not import wheat flower (because that would mean exporting employment) but wheat grain (the raw material). This has proved a plus for many countries, since they are able to attract more returns after processing.
But the story of Bakhresa-Malawi is not complete without looking at the many business portfolios the company is focusing on. This includes soap manufacturing, among others. In fact, Azam soap has become one of the country’s leading brands it is becoming overly difficult to meet growing demand.
Josyabhatla says all these developments point to innovativeness at Bakhresa, and promises more to Malawians. It is a story so inspiring one forgets the many years of Gramil’s unsatisfactory performance due to technical capacity underutilization, insufficient working capital, and over reliance on stretching credit terms with its suppliers and banks to finance its operations.
It is a story so mired in victory; a sure sign that planning never ends at Bakhresa. What with plans to expand to other parts of the country? It keeps Josyabhatla so busy most of the time.
Speedy’s Food Industries sees gold in agro-processing
By Richard Chirombo
There is nothing wrong linking the name Speedy’s to vehicle sales. What is wrong is to confine the name to vehicles only because, as recent investments suggest, Speedy’s directors think bigger than vehicles. At least, that is the impression one gets from what some companies under the group are venturing into.
Of late, the Speedy’s Group of Companies has adopted a new approach to its services’ portfolio; the latest development being its increasing interest in agro-processing. Through Speedy’s Food Industries (SFI), a member of Speedy’s Group of Companies, the company is investing massively in poultry farming and Agro-processing.
Faced with such favourable conditions as the availability of human resource, 219 acres of land, a strategic location and a vision; It did not take SFI Limited long to decide and invest K40 million into poultry farming and Agro-processing. The company’s project brief touts that the injection of funds into an area many consider the mainstay of the rural masses could go a long way in finding a solution to the country’s poultry farming and agro-processing needs.
Not that there was anything missing at Mapanga, a suburb located some 5 km from Limbe, the ‘trading centre’ of Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre. It is just part of SFI’s new strategic thinking, largely premised on the fact that there is still room for new players in the industry- more so for Mapanga. Its strategic locale in terms of market access and availability feeds well into the plans of all those wishing to get the best out of any business venture.
This principal also applies in poultry farming and Agro-processing of animal and poultry feed.
SFI has read through the prism of largely untapped potential in the industry, dispelling the notion that market diversification is all about short-term returns, largely attained through the importation of foreign goods. For a long time, people and companies failed to see the business viability of investing in Mapanga, up until SFI - registered under the Companies Act of the Laws of Malawi- decided to put its allotment of 219 acres of land to good use.
And good use has come to mean bringing in new innovations, expanding market portfolio and diversifying service output and changing with the times in an economy that leans on agriculture to stand still, repositioning strategies matched by the zeal, expertise and experienced hands of Mr. Riaz Jakhura and Alexander Oonnoonny, Managing Director and Group General Manager, respectively.
Under them, SFI has extended the comforting shed of employment to communities around Mapanga and beyond. In a country where a large chunk of the population is grappling with unemployment and with the unemployment rate still a mystery, the social-economic impact of putting 300 people on guaranteed monthly returns cannot be underestimated. What is more? SFI’s Social Impact assessment documents indicate that, for every individual employed, five more people benefit.
This is not strange because Malawi’s extended family system has had a long hold on the country’s history.
Riding over the wings of vast experience in poultry farming and Agro-processing, SFI has quickly created a niche for itself, subsequently positioning itself among Malawi’s leading suppliers of eggs and Agro-processing products, flooding the largely-unexplored market with a daily output of up to 1500 trays of eggs, culminating in 45000 eggs per day, all from its chickens at Mapanga. However, the company foresees increased fortunes because current output does not represent maximum output.
There are plans to improve daily egg production by 25 per cent next year, along with pipeline initiatives to up animal feed production, another crucial component of SFI’s business portfolio. The idea is to maximize output. Production presently stands at 10 tons per 8 hour day-shift. This represents potential because it translates into only 3 per cent of the design capacity of the plant based on a double shift.
While the company uses half of the feed to meet its own needs, 50 per cent is divided between local sales and exports- further contributing towards the Malawi government’s policy goal to overturn the economy from a predominant importer to net exporter. The most encouraging factor is that all facets of production are done locally, without exporting scarce jobs abroad.
SFI currently employs 300 people, cast across the board in management, farm produce and manufacturing operations. But Jakhura and Oonnoonny are not satisfied. Relying on the time-honoured principal that the best indicator of good progress lies in self-belief and continued investment, SFI has injected K40 million into a massive FEED PALLETIZING , OIL PRODUCTION & FARMING PROJECT estimated to run for 12 months.
Main components of the project include: Feed production, to include palletizing feed and oil (a by-product from the palletizing process); crop production; fish farming; Beef (cattle) farming; and intensive production of broiler chickens.
Under palletized feed and oil production, the company seeks to improve feed quality and increase unit production. The feed-palletizing process is a double-shaped sword: It stands to improve both nutrition- content and reduce the amount of waste material found in normal feed. This process requires use of an extruder, which will produce oil as a by-product.
As if to buttress the point that there is no need to tolerate waste in a world that has no spare raw materials, Sachas Bakery- one of the subsidiaries within the Group- will benefit from the by-product (oil) because it will be employed as a raw material in the confectionaries’ business. A project brief also adds that any surpluses will be earmarked for the local and international market.
“At present, we are making mash feed, but it is not 100 economical for a commercial farm like ours. This is so because wastage during consumption is high, as compared to palletized feed.
“If the feed is palletized, the protein levels also increase and feeding wastage can decrease by 10 per cent, translating into reduced costs. Currently, instead of giving 90gm palletized feed to layer chickens, we use 120 gm. of mash feed per chicken per day. We can change this and save 30 gm. per chicken,” says the project brief in part.
There is another plus. The palletized feed will also kill weevils that prey on produce, in the process enhancing chickens’ productivity. It is also envisaged that this will cut the mortality rate of chickens.
Adds the report: “The feed cost can be drastically reduced by palletizing the feed. The high energy output in the feed will also help us reach achieve higher egg production levels from the farm. The oil from Soya, ground nuts, sun flower, cotton seed, among others, can be used in our sister company (Sachas) and the excess sold to other consumers .The cake, a by-product of the oil mill, can be used in producing stock feed.”
The company also sees improved fortunes in crop production. This area of focus covers a wide array of crops and revolves around Agro-processing activities aimed at achieving optimum output production and improved returns. The chief raw materials include maize, soya and sunflower.
SFI wants to venture into intensive maize and soya farming at its farm and will embrace the concept of multiple-cropping. The aim is to cut on over-dependence on contract buying of these crops. Key to the attainment of this goal is the company’s increased focus on production of the staple food, maize.
It is hoped that, by embracing modern agricultural methods, crop production will culminate into an estimated yield of 1000/50kg bags per acre, translating into 200,000kgs of maize from the 200 acres. Production levels will thus hit 200 tons per annum. The development means that, from an annual average requirement of 1000 tons, the farm will provide 20 per cent of requirements at current production levels.
The expected outcome will be increased feed production to 3,025 tons, 1,825 tons of which will be put to internal use as production of eggs peaks at 1,500 egg trays per day. The surplus of 1,200 tons of feed is to be sold to the public.
However, maize is not the only strategic crop to be grown on the farm; soya is next in line, and will be grown on the same area of 200 acres, with the aim of reaching the 100 tons production cylinder, thereby curtailing contract purchasing costs to 350 tons per annum, down from current figures of 450 tons per annum.
These two crops (soya and maize) stand to benefit from irrigation farming as SFI plans to utilize drip-irrigation. The farm has a perennial stream running across it as well as three boreholes dug within the confines of the Mapanga farm. The water from the stream will be tapped into irrigation, providing the opportunity for winter cropping to achieve, at least, two harvests of soya and maize per annum. With 400 tons of maize and 200 tons of soya per year, the venture is bound to reduce operational costs.
Also in the fray of activities is fish farming. With all-year round water availability guaranteed, 30 ponds earmarked for tilapia (Chambo) fish farming are to be constructed, with a daily catch of 1000 tilapia fish per day. The chicken manure will be used to feed the fish, as is universally recommended by agricultural practice.
The good thing about Agro-processing, according to SFI, is that a company can venture into other forms of farming (including fish farming),knowing that the by-products of Agro-processing are the capital needs in the other types of farming. That is why fish farming also features highly in SFI’s plans.
And so does beef cattle rearing (farming). As Malawi’s beef needs grow, there is need for corresponding supply. Taking a leaf from a limited population of cattle reared on trial basis at Mapanga farm, the company now wants to go about the beef cattle business full-throttle. At the moment, a few cattle are kept on the farm for trial to determine suitability of the climate in the area, a process that has proved very successful already. Now the ultimate goal is to keep as many as 150 cattle for beef.
Also in the offing are plans to embrace goat farming (for its meat). In readiness for this, the company has already invested in an abattoir, to be ready in a few months time. Construction of the building is almost complete and equipment has already been ordered. While beef will be sourced from other farmers, a cold-room has already been built with equipment installed ready for use.
Just like beef cattle and fish- all of which depend on Agro-processing by-products to flourish- so do broiler chickens. SFI knows this pretty well, and has included broiler chickens’ production as part of its K40 million investment. Here, diversification is the key word. Venturing into broiler chickens production is a way of diversifying both the Agro-processing and poultry farming activities, which have been the long-time main stay of SIF.
Arrangements are underway to construct houses, starting with 30,000 chicks weighing 2.5kg on average. Within 42 days,chickens will be ready for slaughter. The impact will be increased feed requirements. However, as much as 964 tons additional maize and 500 tons of Soya will be required. The design of the abattoir and the cold room has taken the broiler chickens into consideration.
While SFI already has a lot on its plate, Mr. Jakhura and Oonnoonny are not distracted; instead, they look to the future with confidence. Some of the plans include the purchase of a hatchery with the capacity of 10,000 chicks and parent stock. Equipment required for establishing the hatchery and the parent stock will be imported as part of a plan to help SFI meet its input requirements, a necessary factor in ensuring sustainability and viability of its business operation.
In trying to achieve all this, SFI has also considered its social responsibility role, premised on the philosophy of direct engagement with members of the community who make us what we are, as well as the general populous. The company will, in this respect, engage local people in its farming activities on a contract basis.
Under this arrangement, an individual will be allotted a piece of land, and supplied with selected seeds and agricultural chemical inputs- principally fertilizer and chicken manure. The contracted people will be supervised by an agriculturist employed by SFI. All this will be based on the understanding that the company will buy all the maize and soya grown by these farmers at an agreed minimum price.
This will have a positive trickle down effect, both on the social and economic front. The one hundred people earmarked to benefit from the programme will be able to support up to five more people per family, totaling five hundred in all. The enhanced earning power of the people will spur the growth of micro- businesses within the area and the trickle down effect is bound to benefit many more families in the surrounding communities.
We also plan to organize community members into farmers’ clubs and equip them with chicken farming skills with the guarantee that SFI will buy the broiler chickens and the eggs from them. We will also supply fish siblings and ornamental fish as part of the economic empowerment programme. It is our unique way, as Speedy’s Food Industries Limited, of discharging an important social responsibility to the community.
There is nothing wrong linking the name Speedy’s to vehicle sales. What is wrong is to confine the name to vehicles only because, as recent investments suggest, Speedy’s directors think bigger than vehicles. At least, that is the impression one gets from what some companies under the group are venturing into.
Of late, the Speedy’s Group of Companies has adopted a new approach to its services’ portfolio; the latest development being its increasing interest in agro-processing. Through Speedy’s Food Industries (SFI), a member of Speedy’s Group of Companies, the company is investing massively in poultry farming and Agro-processing.
Faced with such favourable conditions as the availability of human resource, 219 acres of land, a strategic location and a vision; It did not take SFI Limited long to decide and invest K40 million into poultry farming and Agro-processing. The company’s project brief touts that the injection of funds into an area many consider the mainstay of the rural masses could go a long way in finding a solution to the country’s poultry farming and agro-processing needs.
Not that there was anything missing at Mapanga, a suburb located some 5 km from Limbe, the ‘trading centre’ of Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre. It is just part of SFI’s new strategic thinking, largely premised on the fact that there is still room for new players in the industry- more so for Mapanga. Its strategic locale in terms of market access and availability feeds well into the plans of all those wishing to get the best out of any business venture.
This principal also applies in poultry farming and Agro-processing of animal and poultry feed.
SFI has read through the prism of largely untapped potential in the industry, dispelling the notion that market diversification is all about short-term returns, largely attained through the importation of foreign goods. For a long time, people and companies failed to see the business viability of investing in Mapanga, up until SFI - registered under the Companies Act of the Laws of Malawi- decided to put its allotment of 219 acres of land to good use.
And good use has come to mean bringing in new innovations, expanding market portfolio and diversifying service output and changing with the times in an economy that leans on agriculture to stand still, repositioning strategies matched by the zeal, expertise and experienced hands of Mr. Riaz Jakhura and Alexander Oonnoonny, Managing Director and Group General Manager, respectively.
Under them, SFI has extended the comforting shed of employment to communities around Mapanga and beyond. In a country where a large chunk of the population is grappling with unemployment and with the unemployment rate still a mystery, the social-economic impact of putting 300 people on guaranteed monthly returns cannot be underestimated. What is more? SFI’s Social Impact assessment documents indicate that, for every individual employed, five more people benefit.
This is not strange because Malawi’s extended family system has had a long hold on the country’s history.
Riding over the wings of vast experience in poultry farming and Agro-processing, SFI has quickly created a niche for itself, subsequently positioning itself among Malawi’s leading suppliers of eggs and Agro-processing products, flooding the largely-unexplored market with a daily output of up to 1500 trays of eggs, culminating in 45000 eggs per day, all from its chickens at Mapanga. However, the company foresees increased fortunes because current output does not represent maximum output.
There are plans to improve daily egg production by 25 per cent next year, along with pipeline initiatives to up animal feed production, another crucial component of SFI’s business portfolio. The idea is to maximize output. Production presently stands at 10 tons per 8 hour day-shift. This represents potential because it translates into only 3 per cent of the design capacity of the plant based on a double shift.
While the company uses half of the feed to meet its own needs, 50 per cent is divided between local sales and exports- further contributing towards the Malawi government’s policy goal to overturn the economy from a predominant importer to net exporter. The most encouraging factor is that all facets of production are done locally, without exporting scarce jobs abroad.
SFI currently employs 300 people, cast across the board in management, farm produce and manufacturing operations. But Jakhura and Oonnoonny are not satisfied. Relying on the time-honoured principal that the best indicator of good progress lies in self-belief and continued investment, SFI has injected K40 million into a massive FEED PALLETIZING , OIL PRODUCTION & FARMING PROJECT estimated to run for 12 months.
Main components of the project include: Feed production, to include palletizing feed and oil (a by-product from the palletizing process); crop production; fish farming; Beef (cattle) farming; and intensive production of broiler chickens.
Under palletized feed and oil production, the company seeks to improve feed quality and increase unit production. The feed-palletizing process is a double-shaped sword: It stands to improve both nutrition- content and reduce the amount of waste material found in normal feed. This process requires use of an extruder, which will produce oil as a by-product.
As if to buttress the point that there is no need to tolerate waste in a world that has no spare raw materials, Sachas Bakery- one of the subsidiaries within the Group- will benefit from the by-product (oil) because it will be employed as a raw material in the confectionaries’ business. A project brief also adds that any surpluses will be earmarked for the local and international market.
“At present, we are making mash feed, but it is not 100 economical for a commercial farm like ours. This is so because wastage during consumption is high, as compared to palletized feed.
“If the feed is palletized, the protein levels also increase and feeding wastage can decrease by 10 per cent, translating into reduced costs. Currently, instead of giving 90gm palletized feed to layer chickens, we use 120 gm. of mash feed per chicken per day. We can change this and save 30 gm. per chicken,” says the project brief in part.
There is another plus. The palletized feed will also kill weevils that prey on produce, in the process enhancing chickens’ productivity. It is also envisaged that this will cut the mortality rate of chickens.
Adds the report: “The feed cost can be drastically reduced by palletizing the feed. The high energy output in the feed will also help us reach achieve higher egg production levels from the farm. The oil from Soya, ground nuts, sun flower, cotton seed, among others, can be used in our sister company (Sachas) and the excess sold to other consumers .The cake, a by-product of the oil mill, can be used in producing stock feed.”
The company also sees improved fortunes in crop production. This area of focus covers a wide array of crops and revolves around Agro-processing activities aimed at achieving optimum output production and improved returns. The chief raw materials include maize, soya and sunflower.
SFI wants to venture into intensive maize and soya farming at its farm and will embrace the concept of multiple-cropping. The aim is to cut on over-dependence on contract buying of these crops. Key to the attainment of this goal is the company’s increased focus on production of the staple food, maize.
It is hoped that, by embracing modern agricultural methods, crop production will culminate into an estimated yield of 1000/50kg bags per acre, translating into 200,000kgs of maize from the 200 acres. Production levels will thus hit 200 tons per annum. The development means that, from an annual average requirement of 1000 tons, the farm will provide 20 per cent of requirements at current production levels.
The expected outcome will be increased feed production to 3,025 tons, 1,825 tons of which will be put to internal use as production of eggs peaks at 1,500 egg trays per day. The surplus of 1,200 tons of feed is to be sold to the public.
However, maize is not the only strategic crop to be grown on the farm; soya is next in line, and will be grown on the same area of 200 acres, with the aim of reaching the 100 tons production cylinder, thereby curtailing contract purchasing costs to 350 tons per annum, down from current figures of 450 tons per annum.
These two crops (soya and maize) stand to benefit from irrigation farming as SFI plans to utilize drip-irrigation. The farm has a perennial stream running across it as well as three boreholes dug within the confines of the Mapanga farm. The water from the stream will be tapped into irrigation, providing the opportunity for winter cropping to achieve, at least, two harvests of soya and maize per annum. With 400 tons of maize and 200 tons of soya per year, the venture is bound to reduce operational costs.
Also in the fray of activities is fish farming. With all-year round water availability guaranteed, 30 ponds earmarked for tilapia (Chambo) fish farming are to be constructed, with a daily catch of 1000 tilapia fish per day. The chicken manure will be used to feed the fish, as is universally recommended by agricultural practice.
The good thing about Agro-processing, according to SFI, is that a company can venture into other forms of farming (including fish farming),knowing that the by-products of Agro-processing are the capital needs in the other types of farming. That is why fish farming also features highly in SFI’s plans.
And so does beef cattle rearing (farming). As Malawi’s beef needs grow, there is need for corresponding supply. Taking a leaf from a limited population of cattle reared on trial basis at Mapanga farm, the company now wants to go about the beef cattle business full-throttle. At the moment, a few cattle are kept on the farm for trial to determine suitability of the climate in the area, a process that has proved very successful already. Now the ultimate goal is to keep as many as 150 cattle for beef.
Also in the offing are plans to embrace goat farming (for its meat). In readiness for this, the company has already invested in an abattoir, to be ready in a few months time. Construction of the building is almost complete and equipment has already been ordered. While beef will be sourced from other farmers, a cold-room has already been built with equipment installed ready for use.
Just like beef cattle and fish- all of which depend on Agro-processing by-products to flourish- so do broiler chickens. SFI knows this pretty well, and has included broiler chickens’ production as part of its K40 million investment. Here, diversification is the key word. Venturing into broiler chickens production is a way of diversifying both the Agro-processing and poultry farming activities, which have been the long-time main stay of SIF.
Arrangements are underway to construct houses, starting with 30,000 chicks weighing 2.5kg on average. Within 42 days,chickens will be ready for slaughter. The impact will be increased feed requirements. However, as much as 964 tons additional maize and 500 tons of Soya will be required. The design of the abattoir and the cold room has taken the broiler chickens into consideration.
While SFI already has a lot on its plate, Mr. Jakhura and Oonnoonny are not distracted; instead, they look to the future with confidence. Some of the plans include the purchase of a hatchery with the capacity of 10,000 chicks and parent stock. Equipment required for establishing the hatchery and the parent stock will be imported as part of a plan to help SFI meet its input requirements, a necessary factor in ensuring sustainability and viability of its business operation.
In trying to achieve all this, SFI has also considered its social responsibility role, premised on the philosophy of direct engagement with members of the community who make us what we are, as well as the general populous. The company will, in this respect, engage local people in its farming activities on a contract basis.
Under this arrangement, an individual will be allotted a piece of land, and supplied with selected seeds and agricultural chemical inputs- principally fertilizer and chicken manure. The contracted people will be supervised by an agriculturist employed by SFI. All this will be based on the understanding that the company will buy all the maize and soya grown by these farmers at an agreed minimum price.
This will have a positive trickle down effect, both on the social and economic front. The one hundred people earmarked to benefit from the programme will be able to support up to five more people per family, totaling five hundred in all. The enhanced earning power of the people will spur the growth of micro- businesses within the area and the trickle down effect is bound to benefit many more families in the surrounding communities.
We also plan to organize community members into farmers’ clubs and equip them with chicken farming skills with the guarantee that SFI will buy the broiler chickens and the eggs from them. We will also supply fish siblings and ornamental fish as part of the economic empowerment programme. It is our unique way, as Speedy’s Food Industries Limited, of discharging an important social responsibility to the community.
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