The Malawi Project, Inc.

Don’t Just Give Me the Fish, for When You Leave I Will Starve to Death. But Teach Me To Fish and When You Leave I Will Continue To Eat.

    Lebanon, Indiana … A big smile can be seen on the face of Ari Tello, an employee of L. T. Rich Manufacturing Company in Lebanon, Indiana, as she demonstrates one of the two new V-Tractor prototypes that are ready to go to Malawi in the next 40-foot trailer currently being prepared for shipment.

    The V-Tractor is a concept piece of equipment to aid in agriculture for villages and plot style farming for developing countries. Developed by L.T. Rich Products of Lebanon, Indiana with the help of Richard Stephens of the Malawi Project, the tractor utilizes simplicity and reliability.

    Powered by a Hatz diesel, the tractor utilizes a unique three wheel drive hydrostatic transmission utilizing two independent pumps and three wheel motors.

    The tractor also has an 11 gpm auxiliary hydraulic pump to power attachments. The current tractor can power a 30 gpm water pump, 10 kw generator set, and cement mixer. A wide variety of attachments can be developed for additional applications. In field repairs can be made easily with a small tool kit. A simple forward reverse pedal engages the tractor with no gear changes or clutching.

    These tractors have been a number of years in design and creation and they have been prepared especially for village needs on African small plot farms.

    Salima, Malawi … On the road to Senga Bay, Malawi the observer will quickly see the recently constructed lake or large holding pond for rainwater that is located northeast of the Salima Trading Center. The purpose of the lake is to collect water during the rainy season in order to have irrigation capabilities during the 5 months when not a drop of rain falls from the sky. The program is the result of the work of the Kuthandiza Osayenda Disability Outreach (KODO) in order to help the handicapped of Malawi.

    In a recent update on the progress of the program Mr. George Chimpiko Banda, the Director of KODO, reports, "We have dug a 20 by 40m Dam. This Dam is to be used for irrigation. You can see it in the photograph. We hope to harvest enough rainwater this season for our irrigation farming. Maize harvested from this area will be distributed free to the disabled members .We plan to build a Vocational Skills Training Centre for the Disabled as soon as funds are available."

    Two trailers filled with medical, educational and supplies for the handicapped have just arrived at KODO from the Malawi Project in order to assist the handicapped. A third trailer, this one with 550 wheelchairs, is expected to ship to KODO later in the year. 

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

    The Chicago Tribune headlines it as "Food Success Story in Malawi. No longer extending a begging bowl, African nation now feeding its neighbors." (December 1, 2007).

    The New York Times was more direct with its headline, "Ending Famine, simply by ignoring the Experts." (December 4, 2007).

    The news was so different than 5 years ago when BBC News headlined "Malawi’s ‘worst ever famine’" and ‘Southern African Famine: What Went Wrong?" as an estimated 15 million people faced food shortages in the sub-Sahara.

    According to Richard Stephens, Director of the Malawi Project, "the famine situation in Malawi had been extremely serious from mid-2000 to as late as early 2007. We had been seeking food assistance during that period of time. It was not that the people of Malawi were lazy and it was not a matter of over population or living in a region where the soil could not support the population. The main reasons were a period of changing weather patterns combined with government miscalculations by the previous administration in Malawi. These factors brought on the worst period of famine seen in this region since the early 1950’s." The BBC added HIV/AIDS as another major factor with one of every seven Malawians affected.

    Then, suddenly in the harvest of 2007, Malawi reports bumper crops. They were so abundant the harvest was sufficient to begin exporting grain to assist their more unfortunate neighbors. What happened? What caused the turn around? How did the country reverse its misfortune?

    It seems the government under the leadership of President Bingu wa Mutharika changed its agricultural policies from "do as I say, to do as I do." Bingu is no stranger to western policy as compared to western action. He holds a PhD in Development Economics from Pacific Western University in Los Angeles, and a Masters Degree in Economics and a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Delhi, India. As a former diplomat he worked from 1990 to 1997 as Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and before becoming Secretary General of COMESA he worked for the United Nations as the Director for Trade and Development Finance, with responsibilities for 53 African nations.

    When it came to finding ways to pull out of the cycle of continuing famine, Mutharika is reported to have simply taken a page out of the western playbook. While the west was calling for African nations not to use fertilizer on their farm fields, the west continued to use various forms of fertilizer to enhance crop production. This past year Malawi decided to imitate the west and "do as they do." Fertilizer was offered to the farmers at subsidized rates, and the result was a bumper crop.

A Note of Caution
    While Malawi has experienced a good year in the overall view of things, this does not mean there are not scattered pockets of need. The lack of rain, the high price of fertilizer, the poor health of families, or other conditions could hinder food production. Even in a good year the people of the sub-Sahara are barely getting by. There is no such thing as full stomachs all the time. Almost no one in the village areas realizes a bumper crop year after year.

    "We must be careful," Stephens warns. "While we applaud the success of the people of Malawi to tear themselves out of the clutches of famine we have to remember that a single season of insufficient rain, or a family that has lost parents or other family members to the AIDS virus or other illnesses can change the situation for them entirely. For that family or village or region the famine is still with them. We need to sort out those who continue to need help from those who have experienced bumper success this past year. Applaud the one and give assistance to the other."