Autumn Stevens

Malawi
Republic of MalawiNyasaland

Land Area: 118,484 Km (slightly smaller than Pennsylvania)

Population: 13 million
Growth Rate: 3.33%
Capital City: Lilongwe
Main Towns: Blantyre, Zomba, Mzuzu
Climate: Tropical (cooler in highlands)
Official language: English
Common Language: Chichewa
Currency: Kwacha (1 Kwacha= 22.2% of 1 U.S. cent)
Time: GMT +2

GDP: $3.683 billion GDP per capita: $900

(2013)

History
Colonial:
The British established the Nyasaland Districts Protectorate in 1891. Built a civilization, and the
cultivation of crops was introduced by the europeans. the colonial administration did little to enhance the
welfare of the African majority, because of commitment to the interests of European settlers. It failed to develop
African agriculture, and many able-bodied men migrated to neighbouring countries to seek employment
(Britannica). Between 1951 and 1953, the colonial government decided to join the colonies of Southern and
Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland in the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, against bitter opposition from
their African inhabitants.
African nationalism gained momentum in the early 1950s. In 1958 Hastings Kamuzu Banda returned
home after studying medicine abroad and took a leadership position in Malawi. Malawi became independent as
a member of the Commonwealth of Nations on July 6, 1964 (Britannica).
The Banda Regime (1963-1994):
Now under the leadership of Banda, Malawi is an independent country. However, Banda did not
cooperate well with his fellow government peers; in September 1964 three ministers were dismissed and three
others resigned in protest. On July 6, 1966, Malawi became a republic, and Banda was elected president; in
1971 he was made president for life.
Malawis 1966 constitution established a one-party state under the Malawi Congress Party (MCP),
which in turn was controlled by Banda, who consistently and ruthlessly suppressed any opposition. From
independence the MCP government became a conservative, pro-Western regime, supported by a bicameral
National Assembly whose members were elected within the single-party system (Britannica).
Bandas government improved the transport and communication systems, especially the road and
railway networks. There was also much emphasis on cash crop production and food security; the estate sector
(which produced tobacco, tea, and sugar) met expectations, but smallholder production was not as successful,
mainly because of the low prices offered by the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation
(ADMARC), the state organization that had the monopoly on marketing smallholder produce. In addition, the
cost of fertilizer, all of which was imported and also dominated by ADMARC, rendered smallholder agriculture
expensive (Britannica).
A Catholic Church wrote a letter to Banda concerned with the well being and poverty of the African
citizens. Hence, the campaign for the multi-party democracy began. Advocates for change won an
overwhelming victory, and in May 1994 the first free elections in more than 30 years took place. Banda was
defeated by Bakili Muluzi of the UDF by a substantial margin, and the UDF won a majority of seats in the
National Assembly. Although no longer active, Banda remained head of the MCP until his death in November

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1997 (Britannica).

Political
Multiparty Democracy (History of):
Malawi became a republic in 1966. A new constitution was introduced that abolished multiparty
democracy systems. Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda became life president of Malawi in 1971 when it became a one
party state. Because of both international and domestic pressure for a return to multiparty politics in Malawi, in
June of 1993 Dr. Banda was outvoted by the Malawians for the return of a multiparty government system. Since
this reintroduction, Malawi has had 5 Parliamentary and Presidential elections.
It provides for a president, who is limited to serving no more than two five-year terms, and up to two
vice presidents, all of whom are elected by universal suffrage (Britannica).
Women: From 1994 and to present date, new thinking about women in politics has developed. The 1995
Constitution states that the State shall actively promote the welfare and development of the people of Malawi by
progressively adopting and implementing policies and legislation aimed at achieving gender equality for women
and men through, among other strategies, the full participation of women in all spheres of Malawian society on
the basis of equality with men (The Constitution of the Republic of Malawi, Sect. 13a).
Constitution:
The current version of the Constitution of Malawi was adopted on 16 May, 1994. it has been amended
five times, the most recent being in 1998. The Constitution does not contain provisions that specifically refer to
the protection of intellectual property rights, however, it provides for the right of every person to use the
language and to participate in the cultural life of his or her choice. Furthermore, Article 28 guarantees the
protection of property rights (Malawi: Constitution).
Mentions the separation of judicial, legislative, and executive powers. The Constitution does not contain
provisions that specifically refer to the protection of intellectual property rights, however, it provides for the
right of every person to use the language and to participate in the cultural life of his or her choice (Malawi:
Constitution).
Recent:
During the 2014 election period several cases of political violence were observed. For instance, there
were regular clashes between supporters of the United Democratic Front (UDF), the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) and the Peoples Party (PP), in hopes of claiming dominance and power.
A split parliament, coupled with widespread popular discontent over high living costs, weak governance
and rampant corruption, mean political stability will be fragile for the foreseeable future (The Economist).

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Natural Resources
Total Country Trade: $1.39 Billion
1. Raw Tobacco: 54.18%; $755 million
a. Malawi is the 13th poorest country in the world.
b. 76% of Malawians, survive on less than US $2 per day.
c. Malawi derives 65% of its foreign earnings from tobacco, making Malawi the
most tobaccoreliant country in the world.
d. Tobacco accounts for 43% of the agricultural gross domestic product, 13% of the
overall gross domestic product and 23% of Malawi's total tax base.
e. Out of a total workforce of 5 million people, between 600
people are employed in Malawi's tobacco sector.

000 and 2 million

f. Land devoted to tobacco growing in Malawi occupies 122

000 hectares out of
4.6 million hectares under cultivation.
g. Over 98% of Malawi's leaf (mostly burley tobacco) is exported to 68 countries
with the European Union (EU; 44% of exports) and US (13% of exports) being the top
destinations.
h. USbased leafbuying companies Universal Corporation and Alliance One
International purchase Malawi's tobacco and sell it to Philip Morris and British American
Tobacco (BAT).
2. Uranium and Thorium Ore: 11.43%; $159 million
3. Radioactive chemicals: 4.93%; $68.7 million
The natural resources of the country are limestone, hydropower, uranium deposits, coal, and bauxite.
Main Export Partners:
Canada (11.55%)
Belgium (8.28%)
South Africa (7.60%)
United States (6.41%)
United Kingdom (5.85%)
China (5.57%)
Total Country Trade: $2.21 billion
1. Chemicals: 26.07%; $742,000
a. Packaged medicaments, human or animal blood, nitrogenous fertilizers, special
pharmaceuticals, soap, etc.
2. Fuels: 14.47%; $412,000
3. Mechanical and Electrical: 12.59%, $358,000
Main Import Partners:
South Africa (21.74%)
Mozambique (12.09%)
China (9.33%)

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Cultural Factors
1. Christian holidays including Christmas and Easter
2. Muslim holidays

Martyrs Day on March 3, commemorating those who lost their lives in a 1959 uprising
against the British colonial administration

Freedom Day on June 14, in honour of the many Malawians who struggled for the
countrys transition to a multiparty democracy during the early 1990s

Republic Day on July 6, commemorating Malawian independence

Ethnic Groups:

Chewa: largest (32.6%), derived from the

Bantu people of Central and South Africa

Lomwe: 17.6%

Yao: 13.5%

Ngoni: 11.5%

Religions:
Christian: largest (82%), came in during
British colonialism
Muslim: (13%) due to number of muslim
people in the country

Cultural History:
Malawians are part of the large Bantu population that migrated northward from South Africa at around the turn
of the twentieth century.European involvement began in 1875 and 1876, when Scottish church missions were
established, and a British consul was stationed in the country in 1883. In 1891, treaties that had been negotiated
with indigenous rulers resulted in the formal declaration of a British protectorate called the Nyasaland Districts
Protectorate. Beginning in 1893, it was known as the British Central Africa Protectorate, and in 1907, the area
was officially designated the Nyasaland Protectorate. In 1915, John Chilembwe, an African preacher, staged a
short, bloody uprising in response to the treatment of Africans by British colonists.
There is a feeling that people from the north are more intelligent than their southern counterparts, and
Banda mistrusted northerners, attempting to keep them out of public office and curtail their enrollment
in Kamuzu Academy.

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Defense
Military Branches:
Malawi Defense Forces (MDF)
Army (includes Air Wing, Marine Unit)
Age and Obligation:
18 years of age for voluntary military service; high school equivalent required for enlisted recruits and college
equivalent for officer recruits; initial engagement is 7 years for enlisted personnel and 10 years for officers
Manpower Available:
males age 16-49: 3,514,809 (2010 est.)
Manpower Fit:
males age 16-49: 2,132,909
females age 16-49: 2,043,925 (2010 est.)
Expenditures:
0.93% of GDP
An estimated 33 million people are living with HIV globally, while almost 1 million of these people live
in Malawi. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Malawi caused severe damage to Malawis social and economic
infrastructure. Farmers and workers werent able to provide food and support their families, and children could
not attend school, because they were infected with HIV or were caring for a family member who was. In recent
times, a five-year National Strategic Framework to combat AIDS was implemented, as well as a National AIDS
Policy, in an effort to decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Although the Malawi government has made
commendable efforts to increase treatment accessibility to HIV/AIDS patients, and improve prevention
initiatives, the scale of the epidemic and shortage of resources have hindered progress (Project Concern
International).
With U.S:
May 13, 2013- As part of African Deployment Partnership Training known as ADAPT, three U.S. Army
Soldiers traveled to Senga Bay, Malawi, to provide a final phase of Ground Training to Malawia Defense Force
personnel.
The United States has an active Peace Corps program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department
of Health and Human Services, and an Agency for International Development(USAID) mission in Malawi.
Malawi is the first southern African country to receive peacekeeping training under the U.S.-sponsored African
Crisis Response Force Initiative (ACRI) and has joined the successor program, African Contingency Operations
Training Assistance (ACOTA). It has an active slate of peacetime engagement military-to-military programs.
Foreign Aid:
Malawi has relied heavily on foreign aid since independence. Aid came with stronger conditions for economic
and democratic governance following multiparty reform in 1994 and donors have multiple times since shown a
willingness to withdraw aid when these conditions are unmet. In the wake of the recent Cashgate scandal, many
foreign donors have suspended aid to Malawi (habanahaba).

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Geography
Bordering Countries:
Topography:
Topographically, Malawi lies
within the Great Rift Valley
system. Lake Malawi, a body of
water some 580 km (360 mi)
long and about 460 m (1,500 ft)
above sea level, is the country's
most prominent physical
feature. About 75% of the land
surface is plateau between 750
m and 1,350 m (2,460 and 4,430
ft) above sea level. Highland
elevations rise to over 2,440 m
(8,000 ft) in the Nyika Plateau
in the north and at Mt. Sapitwa
(3,000 m/9,843 ft). The lowest
point is on the southern border,
where the Shire River
approaches its confluence with
the Zambezi at 37 m (121 ft)
above sea level (Encyclopedia
of Nations).
Millions of people depend on Lake Malawi for water, transport, fishing and income from tourism.
However demands on the lakes natural resources have led to historic disputes over their ownership and
management. In the second half of the nineteenth century, issues of water supply, degradation and over-fishing
emerged as the some of the core issues requiring attention. These issues have been exaggerated by rising levels
of poverty and high rate of population growth: communities which experience poverty, population growth and
lack of food often struggle to meet the trade-offs necessary for long term sustainability of resources in order to
meet immediate short term needs. Overfishing is perhaps one of the most important issues being addressed by
the lake-shore communities: large scale commercial fishing has disrupted the traditional way of life which relies
on fish harvested from the lake. Siltation of spawning grounds endangers fish populations.
Ownership of lake (Tanzania, Mozambique, and Malawi)
Flooding from Zambezi and Shire rivers
Call for cross region cooperation in the management of the lake and its flow
Environmental Issues:
Deforestation: Malawi was previously heavily forested. However, according to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), forest cover is now just 27.2% of the total land
area of Malawi. Wood is the main fuel in Malawi, and 95% of homes still use wood or charcoal for
cooking (Ripple Africa).
Agriculture: Maize needs good soil and nutrients, and sufficient water, but it is susceptible to
disease and drought. Unfortunately, Malawians rarely rotate their crops and often, at the end of the
season, the fields are burnt to clear them so that the nutrients are destroyed and there is very little
organic matter in the soil. Hence, increasingly, farmers rely on expensive, chemical fertilisers to increase
their crop yields (Ripple Africa). Malawians have a saying chimanga ndi moyo or 'maize is life'. For
around 80% of Malawians, life revolves around growing enough maize to feed the family (Our Africa).

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Water pollution from agricultural runoff, sewage, industrial wastes

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Economy
GDP: $3.683 billion GDP per capita: $900 (2013)
GPD Distribution:
household consumption: 73.6%
government consumption: 20.7%
investment in fixed capital: 13%
investment in inventories: 1.9%
exports of goods and services: 29.2%
imports of goods and services: -38.4%
Dependency and Debt:
$1.556 billion (2013), #149 in countries around world
Malawi is one of the worlds poorest economies; an estimated 75% of Malawians are living under the poverty
line and the countrys population is expected to double to 26 million by 2030. Demand for Malawis principal
exports of tobacco, tea, sugar and cotton has also been falling in recent years. Tobacco in particular has suffered
due to a poor harvest and global campaigns to decrease tobacco consumption. Without international capital,
Malawi has little hope of creating a sustainable economy. Malawi is therefore heavily dependent on foreign aid,
and many of Bandas recent policies are likely to have been made with at least one eye on donors (Farrell).
The lowering of the currency against the dollar has hit locals hard. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the
world: 74 percent of the population of this southern African nation lives on less than 1.25 dollars a day, and
nearly one in 10 children die before their fifth birthday (Ngozo).
Membership in Economic Trade and Organizations:
African Growth and Opportunity Act: offers tangible incentives for African countries to continue
their efforts to open their economies and build free markets.
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa: a fully integrated, internationally competitive
regional economic community with high standards of living for all its people ready to merge into an
African Economic Community
South African Development Community: provide strategic expertise and co-ordinate the
harmonisation of policies and strategies to accelerate Regional Integration and sustainable development.
Size of Economy:
Economic Freedom: #126
Its score is 0.6 point lower than last year, reflecting declines in property rights, the control of government
spending, monetary freedom, and trade freedom that outweigh gains in business freedom, investment freedom,
and freedom from corruption. Malawi is ranked 25th out of 46 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, and
its overall score is below the world average Malawi has yet to develop the basic institutional framework to
improve economic freedom and address poverty. (Heritage.org).
Major Types of Jobs:
Jobs in the country are mainly in the agricultural sector, which employs more than 80% of the
population (Our Africa).
Fishing around Lake Malawi offer job opportunity.
There are a few vocational centres offering training in professions and trades, such as
nursing, carpentry, motor mechanics, welding and printing.
Strength of Economy:
Malawis economy has grown by an average of 7% over the last five years. However, there are a number of
factors holding back economic development. These include an unreliable supply of electricity, weak staffing in
public services and land constraints. Many farmers are locked into subsistence-style farming on small plots (the
average farmer cultivates less than half a hectare of land). And fewer than one in 10 Malawians have access to
electricity services. Over the last decade, farmers have been provided with subsidies for fertilizers and higheryielding hybrid seeds. This policy has boosted food output. However, this approach may be unaffordable going
into the future. Farmers have also been encouraged to diversify away from tobacco (Our Africa).

Views on World Problems

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International Agreements:
Special relation with Scotland
Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands
Disputes:
Tanzania: LAKE MALAWI (Lake of Stars: Dr.
Livingstone thought the fishermens lamps on the lake
looked like stars in the sky)- The third largest and second
deepest lake in Africa, it is also the ninth largest in the
world. It is reportedly the habitat of more species of fish
than any other body of freshwater, including more than
1000 species of cichlids and was officially declared a
reserve (allAfrica). The dispute came to a head in 1967
when Tanzania officially protested to Malawi; however
nothing was settled. Occasional flare-ups of conflict
occurred during the 1990s and in the 21st century. In 2012,
Malawi's oil exploration initiative brought the issue to the
fore, with Tanzania demanding that exploration cease until
the dispute was settled.

United Nations
the United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization established 24 October 1945, to promote
international co-operation.
Admitted to the United Nations on 1st December 1964 after attaining independence on 6th July the same year.
Permanent Representative of Malawi: Brian G. Bowler
Role:

Social and Protection Services

Governance and Human Rights
Economic Growth and Food Security
HIV and AIDS

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Issues
HIV and AIDS:
In Malawi, 15.4% of 1549 year olds are infected
with HIV and 18-26% of
pregnant women are
living with HIV. Research
has shown that
sociocultural factors,
especially gender roles
and relationships, play a
significant role in the
transmission of HIV in
Africa but little is known
about Malawi women's
perspective on HIV/AIDS
(PubMed.gov).
Malawi is ranked #9 in HIV/AIDS deaths around the world (CIA).
The HIV/AIDS has become a greatest threat to the strength of the Malawi Defence Forces
(MDF).
The news that HIV/AIDS is threatening to kill Malawians more than they have been killed in any
conflict they have themselves involved in was revealed at the weekend during the launch of results on a
study of factors, contributing to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the Malawi Defence Forces, which took
place at Kamuzu Barracks in Malawi's capital, Lilongwe.According to the UNAIDS report, the Malawi
Defence Force has experienced a decline in human resources because of the high incidence of AIDS. 'It
is very important for the Malawi Defence Force to attain and maintain the established size of the army
so that it may execute its tasks efficiently in time of war, conflicts and disasters. The major factor for the
decrease in strength may be attributed to the HIV/AIDS epidemic,' reads part of the report (Banda).
Hunger:
Vegetable farming harder to maintain; unavailable nutrients leading to hunger and famished citizens.
Malawi's challenge on nutrition, stating, 50 percent of children under five are stunted and 12.8 percent are
underweight (ManaOnline).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), for every doctor in Malawi, there are
around 50,000 people.
An estimated 75% of Malawians are living under the poverty line and the countrys population is
expected to double to 26 million by 2030 (Ngozo).

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