Malawi is a small economy where a large majority of the workforce is engaged in agricultural production and it is the backbone of the country’s economy, directly accounting for about one third of gross domestic product.
Although, agriculture significantly contributes to employment, economic growth, export earnings, poverty reduction, food security, and nutrition. Yet, it has faced persistent food security challenges.
The World Food Program (WFP) data reveal that 2.8 million people in the country are food insecure because of drought and flooding from last year. Also, as climate change intensifies, rains in Malawi are becoming erratic and less predictable.
Food Security means that all people at all times, have physical and economic access to adequate amounts of nutritious, safe, and culturally appropriate foods, which are produced in an environmentally sustainable and socially just manner, and that people are able to make informed decisions about their food choices. The country also faces a myriad of environmental, social, and human health challenges, land degradation and deforestation.
While for many years there has been a good production at the national level, the most vulnerable still have difficulty meeting their annual food needs. Since 2012 is that despite food surpluses, access to nutritious foods remains a stubborn challenge.
Based on a July 2018 situation analysis report on the food safety sector in Malawi, food safety and food security, nutrition, health and other relevant sectors are not integrated at national level. They blame this situation on incomplete regulatory frameworks, limited awareness, failure to comply with standards and lack of infrastructure.
Women remain the largest proportion of the poor in the country. It also has an underdeveloped industrial sector, which has proved to be a major stumbling block to economic transformation.
Be First to Comment