My Turn

On Malawi’s Economic Recovery Plan

Much is expected of the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP), but as citizens have we seen much? How long will it take to see any improvement? Also what will it cost?

But rather than bemoan the negative, I encourage you to look for opportunities, for the positives. What can Malawians, not the nebulous Malawi, but us, ourselves, you and me, do now to make a difference. We all have a duty to contribute to the general betterment of us all.

A farmers’ fertiliser subsidy:

What is Malawian fertiliser, I hear you say. Well you only have to look at all the poultry farms and the cattlekholas to realise how much made-in- Malawi manure there is available. Why not provide coupons that can be exchanged with cattle farmers for sacks of manure throughout the dry season? They would be redeemed on inspection of an empty khola. There would be no money spent on excessive transport, money would be injected into the rural economy and livestock farmers would have more cash to buy more animals to make more manure. Better still, the money given by the donors would remain in the country rather than boost the business of foreign fertiliser firms. Farmers need trade, not aid.

A traveller’s transport system:

While a minibus is licensed for 14 persons and takes over 18, a private car is licensed for five and takes one. Also, there are only a few main roads between offices and homes in our cities, so many go in the same direction.

What is the fuel consumption of a hundred cars crawling along at five km/h compared with 25 cars travelling at 35km/h? What is the cost of wide carriageways for faster travel, where cars wait in single file, compared with narrower lanes and cars passing two at a time?

For the cost of some tins of paint, made in Malawi, and some new white lines, we could almost double the capacity of our roads. Also instil discipline and responsible driving and make significant savings in our own fuel consumption. We might even meet interesting people when sharing their or our cars.

A day off work:

The many resorts are complaining or poor patronage while we in town do not have the time to get away, even at the weekend. But when you look at the many public holidays, could these not be better positioned to facilitate more enjoyment? After all, that is what time off from work should be. While it is inter-nationalistic to celebrate Labour Day on the 1st of May, why not attach the day off to the first weekend in May, so we can all take a well-earned break. Why not fix Mother’s Day to the first weekend in October, so we can treat our mothers to some quality time with the family. Both would go a little way to stimulate the local, made in Malawi, holiday, entertainment and service sectors of our economy.

Downhill all the way:

One of our largest exports is fresh water, we get it for free and send it away with little positive impact on our economy. It rushes off the land as floods, only to evaporate from the lake, what is left goes down the Shire to the sea. For all the forestry projects, we will never get back to a situation where trees shield our land from heavy rainfall. It is now up to us to put the rain into the soil where it is filtered, cooled and stored for our later use. OK there are big and small rain drops, made in Malawi, but they are all relatively small compared with the raging torrents we let the water collect into on footpaths and roadsides.

A simple system of catchment ditches aligned to the contours would hold water till it soaks into the soil. They would hold the silt we give to Escom. They would hold the little fertiliser we would need to top up the manure applied to our crops. Finally, it would be a great opportunity for rural employment in the dry season, should we need to pay people to help themselves.

Background:

To quote from the ERP document:- The recovery plan identifies areas for intervention in the immediate, short and medium term. Some of the measures, including the devaluation of the Malawi kwacha, setting a market-determined exchange rate, restoration of bilateral and multilateral relations and the repealing of punitive laws in our country have already been implemented.

In the plan, the immediate term is defined as within three months, the short term, within a year and the long term within two to five years. The other actions alluded to were principally out of our control and begged the forgiveness of others, and correcting our own mistakes. n

—The author is a landscape architect with an interest in locally appropriate, sustainable solutions to large-scale problems.

—For feedback, please contact: tim.mahoney@ulc.mw

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