I was asked to write a short article for Farmers Union by the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) which is the "farmers union" for the world. It will be published in their upcoming World Farmer Publication. Their newsletter can be found at http://www.ifap.org/en/publications/newsletters.html
The short bit I wrote is below:
The Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM), has been a key player in advocating for appropriate responses to the food price crisis. The government of Malawi has implemented an input subsidy programme for selected crops including maize, the staple food crop. The subsidy targets the “poorest of the poor” and gives coupons which cover the majority of the price of the cost of inputs and starting this year, free maize seed. FUM has been a key player in monitoring this programme and, while applauding it, FUM continues to advocate for improvements in the targeting, distribution and logistics of the programme.
Smallholder farmers are still net food purchasers as production levels and land size do not allow farmers to produce enough for each season, so food price is important. FUM continues to advocate for government investment in agriculture and is regularly consulted by government in order to present the voice of farmers and FUM is pleased that Malawi currently allocates approximately 14% of its budget to agriculture, significantly above that called for by the Maputo Declaration. FUM has cautioned government on some of its responses to the crisis though, which include an export ban on maize and a recent declaration that only ADMARC, a parastatal, can purchase and sell maize. FUM successfully advocated that due to the inability to implement this plan, food security could actually be damaged and the government modified its position to allow small scale traders to continue to buy and sell maize. ADMARC’s proper role is in creating a set price that gives an appropriate return to farmers while preventing exploitation of consumers and complements government strategic grain reserves. FUM continues to work to bring the voice of farmers forward in the response to the rising cost of food, recognizing government success while continually working for improvements.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Disturbing Practices
For those of you who have been following the blog you know that I have from time to time commented on the widespread belief of witchcraft here in Malawi. The following story is disturbing so stop reading now if you are sensitive to such stories. When the story is about crashed “witch airplanes” the stories have a certain ethnographical appeal but last week our day guard at our home was relating how his neighbourhood was very worried due to witch activity the night before. Human body parts are considered to be especially powerful additions to the casting of spells and sometimes graves are desecrated to find these parts. But Grant was worried as witches or those being paid by them had come to his neighbourhood the night before and killed three people. One person had their eyes removed, one their teeth and the other his genitals. Grant and his neighbours are understandably upset but catching perpetrators is often next to impossible here. Hopefully, due to the horror and concern of everyone the perpetrators will not be able to repeat this acts, but as the newspapers here show, they will just move on to another area.
Being in Malawi has definitely caused me to have a different view towards some cultural practices. I have always been fascinated by so-called superstitions held by different cultures and often they are harmless only in that they may not reveal the true nature of reality. But when superstitions cause the kind of acts that occur here and elsewhere in Africa I find it much harder to maintain a neutral position towards the cultural practices of others. When we were in Tanzania over Christmas one of the big stories in their newspapers was the rash of murders of albinos who are considered especially powerful ingredients in spells. An undercover journalist went to medicine men and witch doctors looking for spells that needed albino parts and only two of the 18 or so turned her down. The rest all offered to get it done for price tags around $2000. What was interesting was that all of them diagnosed her with a different condition and all of them prescribed a different cure. When they talked about her family life, her career and her background none of them gave correct answers towards her specific family details and none of them picked up on the fact that she was an undercover journalist.
Often the churches reinforce these beliefs by convincing their parishioners that the witches are real agents of the devil, not that they are conmen as the investigative journalist discovered in Tanzania. In Zambia the Catholic Church is trying to combat the belief in and use of witches. They employ a former witchdoctor who knows all of the tricks and goes to parishes explaining how he used to completely fool his clients in order to get as much money as possible out of him. He relates how the tricks are passed down from one practitioner to another and none of them actually believe they are witches, it is all about making money for themselves.The other damaging side of the coin is the use of mediums to determine who is at fault for a loss of crops, the loss of a child or some other misfortune. These witchfinders will ask the client various questions and will then determine who it is that put the spell on them. Often this is a member of the same village or even can be a fellow family member. The community then will turn their back on this individual and they often can become a pariah for life unless they make certain ritual amends that are accepted by the community. Paradoxically in a society that has a great respect for elders, if you live too old it is considered unnatural and that you must be getting life from others. Therefore if babies or children die (which is common in Malawi due to the state of health care) the first person you may blame is that really old grandfather or mother that you have. Needless to say this cultural belief leads to fractured and broken communities and relationships.
Being in Malawi has definitely caused me to have a different view towards some cultural practices. I have always been fascinated by so-called superstitions held by different cultures and often they are harmless only in that they may not reveal the true nature of reality. But when superstitions cause the kind of acts that occur here and elsewhere in Africa I find it much harder to maintain a neutral position towards the cultural practices of others. When we were in Tanzania over Christmas one of the big stories in their newspapers was the rash of murders of albinos who are considered especially powerful ingredients in spells. An undercover journalist went to medicine men and witch doctors looking for spells that needed albino parts and only two of the 18 or so turned her down. The rest all offered to get it done for price tags around $2000. What was interesting was that all of them diagnosed her with a different condition and all of them prescribed a different cure. When they talked about her family life, her career and her background none of them gave correct answers towards her specific family details and none of them picked up on the fact that she was an undercover journalist.
Often the churches reinforce these beliefs by convincing their parishioners that the witches are real agents of the devil, not that they are conmen as the investigative journalist discovered in Tanzania. In Zambia the Catholic Church is trying to combat the belief in and use of witches. They employ a former witchdoctor who knows all of the tricks and goes to parishes explaining how he used to completely fool his clients in order to get as much money as possible out of him. He relates how the tricks are passed down from one practitioner to another and none of them actually believe they are witches, it is all about making money for themselves.The other damaging side of the coin is the use of mediums to determine who is at fault for a loss of crops, the loss of a child or some other misfortune. These witchfinders will ask the client various questions and will then determine who it is that put the spell on them. Often this is a member of the same village or even can be a fellow family member. The community then will turn their back on this individual and they often can become a pariah for life unless they make certain ritual amends that are accepted by the community. Paradoxically in a society that has a great respect for elders, if you live too old it is considered unnatural and that you must be getting life from others. Therefore if babies or children die (which is common in Malawi due to the state of health care) the first person you may blame is that really old grandfather or mother that you have. Needless to say this cultural belief leads to fractured and broken communities and relationships.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
You're Arrested
Well, now I can add another first to my list of activities I have participated in in Malawi. Yesterday (December 15) the driver for Farmers Union wasn't available so I was asked to drive our Lobbying and Advocacy Committee to the bus station. I agreed and we loaded up and drove to our local bus station. I expected to be back within about 15 minutes.
I pulled up to the station but there were no parking spots so I pulled over to the side of the road. The farmer leaders I was transporting got out of the car and I got out to get their bags out of the back of the pickup for them. I got back in the vehicle having been stopped for about 30 seconds. Behind me was another car stopped doing the same thing. Just as I went to drive away a police vehicle came racing in from a side street blocking the vehicle I was driving. Officers got out and one walked up to me and told me that I was under arrest and then walked away. I thought for a second that he was joking. I waited there while he went to tell the car behind me that they were also under arrest. The car behind me gunned it trying to race away. The police officer on foot ran alongside the car holding the passenger door handle. He was able to get it open and jump into the moving car. Once he was in the car the driver slammed on their brakes stopping the car and then they got out and ran away leaving the car with the police officer sitting in the passenger seat. It felt surreal as I watched the owner of the other car run away. At that point another police officer opened up my passenger door, and got into the Farmers Union vehicle. She said I was under arrest for stopping and letting people out of the car in a no parking zone. We had to proceed to the police station following the car without a driver driven by the other police officer. Once at the police station they looked at the vehicle and told me that one of the tires didn’t have enough tread and that would be a 3000 Kwacha (about $27) fine. Then the officers went off to discuss with other officers about the parking fine. They were speaking in Chichewa but an interesting quirk of Malawi is that they use English for numbers so I could hear them discussing 3000 Kwacha or 6000 Kwacha. Knowing that I had done nothing other than stop to let people out of the car I was pretty sure it would have to be the lower of the two fines they were discussing.
Despite this I wasn’t that surprised when the officers returned to tell me that I was being fined K 6000 plus K 6000 for the tire. I told them that the tire was not a danger and that I did not want to pay a fine for a tire that was working fine on a vehicle that I didn’t own. They seemed to agree to this but still wanted me to pay K 6000 for what they called “dangerous parking”. I did not want to pay such a fine so I told them that I knew full well that the statute that I was in violation of was not dangerous parking but rather parking in a no parking zone (I was completely bluffing I am not familiar with the parking statutes) which is only a K 3000 fine. They looked at each other, discussed with each other for a second and agreed with me. So I paid the fine and insisted on a receipt that declared what I was being charged with. The whole process took over an hour and I felt especially bad because there was still one board member with me the whole time. When I got back to the office our driver was there and he told me that he wasn’t surprised that I had been nabbed as they ramp up their enforcement of minor offences like this before Christmas looking for extra income he said. Unfortunately for them I actually went to the police station with them and insisted on official receipts.
I pulled up to the station but there were no parking spots so I pulled over to the side of the road. The farmer leaders I was transporting got out of the car and I got out to get their bags out of the back of the pickup for them. I got back in the vehicle having been stopped for about 30 seconds. Behind me was another car stopped doing the same thing. Just as I went to drive away a police vehicle came racing in from a side street blocking the vehicle I was driving. Officers got out and one walked up to me and told me that I was under arrest and then walked away. I thought for a second that he was joking. I waited there while he went to tell the car behind me that they were also under arrest. The car behind me gunned it trying to race away. The police officer on foot ran alongside the car holding the passenger door handle. He was able to get it open and jump into the moving car. Once he was in the car the driver slammed on their brakes stopping the car and then they got out and ran away leaving the car with the police officer sitting in the passenger seat. It felt surreal as I watched the owner of the other car run away. At that point another police officer opened up my passenger door, and got into the Farmers Union vehicle. She said I was under arrest for stopping and letting people out of the car in a no parking zone. We had to proceed to the police station following the car without a driver driven by the other police officer. Once at the police station they looked at the vehicle and told me that one of the tires didn’t have enough tread and that would be a 3000 Kwacha (about $27) fine. Then the officers went off to discuss with other officers about the parking fine. They were speaking in Chichewa but an interesting quirk of Malawi is that they use English for numbers so I could hear them discussing 3000 Kwacha or 6000 Kwacha. Knowing that I had done nothing other than stop to let people out of the car I was pretty sure it would have to be the lower of the two fines they were discussing.
Despite this I wasn’t that surprised when the officers returned to tell me that I was being fined K 6000 plus K 6000 for the tire. I told them that the tire was not a danger and that I did not want to pay a fine for a tire that was working fine on a vehicle that I didn’t own. They seemed to agree to this but still wanted me to pay K 6000 for what they called “dangerous parking”. I did not want to pay such a fine so I told them that I knew full well that the statute that I was in violation of was not dangerous parking but rather parking in a no parking zone (I was completely bluffing I am not familiar with the parking statutes) which is only a K 3000 fine. They looked at each other, discussed with each other for a second and agreed with me. So I paid the fine and insisted on a receipt that declared what I was being charged with. The whole process took over an hour and I felt especially bad because there was still one board member with me the whole time. When I got back to the office our driver was there and he told me that he wasn’t surprised that I had been nabbed as they ramp up their enforcement of minor offences like this before Christmas looking for extra income he said. Unfortunately for them I actually went to the police station with them and insisted on official receipts.
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