MALAWI: FOOD SECURITY IN A MARKET-ORIENTED ECONOMY


1. INTRODUCTION

 As late as the mid-1980s, questions about food security in Malawi were not officially
allowed. The official posture at the time was that Malawi was an agricultural success story with
a dynamic estate sector that was producing an enviable rate of growth for the economy. At times
the country could even export food. The fact that, even with this high level of agricultural
production, a large segment of the population had stunted growth because of chronic malnutrition
was not considered a politically appropriate subject to raise.

 Today, however, there are numbers of studies and assessments related to food security in
Malawi. Beginning in 1989, for example, the World Bank prepared a food security assessment
for Malawi, and as late as several weeks ago, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoALD) with the
assistance of the FAO finished the final draft of an up-dated food security assessment. The
present report builds on these studies and many other related reports (see Annex B). The intention
of this report is to examine the food security situation in Malawi considering the many changes
that have occurred as the country has moved from a centrally controlled to a market-oriented
economy. Many approaches to food security created in the past are no longer appropriate. This
examination should help provide guidance to policy makers on how better to deal with the food
security question.

 This report was undertaken to develop aN understanding of Malawi's food security
situation among the Government of Malawi (GoM) and its donor partners. The report establishes
concepts that can serve as a basis for additional efforts to develop specific plans of actions to carry
out these concepts. The report itself does not present a specific action plan. The final product
of this and follow-on efforts should be a more effective, market-oriented program to assure food
security for Malawi's population.

 The report is structured in the following manner: After an introduction, Chapter 1
continues with a brief review of the changes that have taken place in Malawi's economic and
political institutions that necessitate consideration of a market-oriented approach to the food
security situation. After some comments on terminology, the Chapter provides a brief review of
a market-oriented approach to food security. This background material is followed in Chapter
2 by an analysis of the impact of markets on household food security in Malawi. Chapter 3
presents an analysis of the national food situation, contrasting a market view with a more
traditional "food gap" analysis. Next in Chapter 4, the report looks at current public interventions
supporting food security. Finally, in Chapter 5, the report examines three possible approaches
that could be taken by government and donors to address food security, and it evaluates their
appropriateness within a market economy.