Talk:Agriculture in Malawi

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The reasons for the record harvest in hte recent years in Malawi is noway clear. Neither is the feasibility of spending 3% of GDP on a palliative subsidy. See for instance blog-post and discussion (with linked papers) here: http://rodrik.typepad.com/dani_rodriks_weblog/2007/12/ending-famine-b.html

However, it is perfectly clear that Malawi exported significant amount of food to her neighbours, which is an improvement, of course. Ttstei (talk) 00:01, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Smallholder Agriculture and on Access to Land

This present short article concentrates on the Food Subsidy Initiative, and looks more like an advertisement for Malawi government's fertilizer programme than a thorough description of Malawian Agriculture. The external link is to a New York Times article that oversimplifies the issue of the history of fertilizer subsidies and their sustainability, but the real problem is that Smallholder Agriculture and the problem of the Smallholders' Access to Land are not addressed

I am proposing to add a section or sections on Smallholder Agriculture and on Access to Land in the near future, and probably one on Tobacco and the Tobacco Estates in future.

Shscoulsdon (talk) 10:20, 25 November 2012 (UTC)

Misleading Edits

User Smeya made two edits timed 9.42 on 19 February 2013. In the first, they added the phrase "such as ganyu (piece work) food for work programme" to the sentence "Seasonal hunger was common in pre-colonial and early colonial times, and gave rise to several coping strategies. Firstly (grammar apart), ganyu was not one of the coping strategies mentioned in the in-line citation for the passage and secondly, there is no evidence that ganyu, with the meaning piece work undertaken for food existed in pre-colonial and early colonial times. John McCracken, (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859-1966, p. 256 dates this use to the mid-1950s and both Mandala and Vaughan say that, until the late 1940s famines, food was shared, without the expectation of a direct return if work. In the second, they changed the phrase "Malawi's rainfall in 1989-90 and 1990-91 was only moderate," to "Malawi's rainfall in 1989-90 and 1990-91 was relatively erratic,". Again, this is not the information given by the in-line citation for this passage and "relatively erratic" can mean too much as well as too little. User Smeya is of course free to add properly referenced material, but should not make unreferenced, and probably unreferencable, changes to correctly-cited material. Shscoulsdon (talk) 14:46, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

External links modified

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• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20090123220309/http://www.malawi.gov.mw:80/Agriculture/Home%20%20Agriculture.htm to http://www.malawi.gov.mw/Agriculture/Home%20%20Agriculture.htm

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External links modified

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Unsourced additions

In September 2014, User Kittylouiseshep made four edits, the two with the edit summary Neo-colonialism. Although the neutrality of these edits may be questioned, if they were properly sourced, they should remain as an alternative view.

The first edit refers to an IMF publication "Malawi—The Food Crises, the Strategic Grain Reserve, and the IMF." This publication, which is available online, refers to the 2002 crisis, although the edit is placed in the section dealing with 2011/12, not 2002. It also claims that the:

“Three main aspects which were to be improved were: the regulation of internal manipulation of sales for personal gain; eliminating manipulation of prices and minimalizing costs to the original budget”

The actual paper says that four main areas for improving food security included: improving transparency by external audit, removing price distortions (not manipulations) and reducing costs. Although it mentions allegations of corruption, it does not specify them as an area for improvement. However, the biggest threat to food security was stated as Malawi’s reliance on maize, not a drought-resistant crop.

Next, there are two references to a paper by Diana Cammack, "Malawi in Crisis, 2011–12." Review of African Political Economy 39.132 (2012): 375-88. @ page 376, accessed through JSTOR.

“The success of crops in the international market was determined by the colonial power and authority of the IMF and WTO”

“A consequence of the changes under the SAPs was that the emerging middle class was largely effected as there is no "infrastructure needed to generate and sliver [sic] water, electricity, cheap transport and communications". This emerging class was a promise of protecting Malawi into the future as its population was well educated and in touch with the internet era”

However, when I tried to access the paper through JSTOR, I found that that JSTOR did not have any access to Review of African Political Economy after 2009 and, when I was able to access a copy through Academia, it was clear that the article was on Malawi’s political crisis of 2011-12. Neither page 376 nor any other page in the article mentions neo-colonialism of the IMF or WTO and the second reference is not relevant to agriculture.

The next two changes are referenced to Dent, M.J. "Malawi Debt: Cause of Great Suffering and Impediment to Development — Means of Removing the Burden." The Society of Malawi Journal 50.2 (1997): 1-16.

“The IMF in its revaluation of ADMARC saw that improvements were necessary for society. Three main aspects which were to be improved were: the regulation of internal manipulation of sales for personal gain; eliminating manipulation of prices and minimalizing costs to the original budget.. [sic]”, and

“The global committee National Food Reserve Agency (NRFA) introduced in 1998, was citizen and analyzed for letting the famine escalate to this proportion. Measurements of precaution which were created were deemed not effective. The warning system was not adapted properly to produce an effective warning. As well as the NRFA's selling of a large percent of the Maize stock in its rotation of the grain reserve. Both these failures are due to the lack of an infrastructure with modern technology and precautions in logistical arrangements”

This article mentions neither ADMARC (or the IMF’s view of it) nor NRFA, and the absence of the second, founded in 1998, is not surprising in an article published in 1997.

It is reasonably clear that this user either never accessed the articles claimed as sources or (in the case of the IMF article) has distorted its contents. This account appears to be no longer active, and seems to have been used to present a POV under cover of sources that it does not represent. I will alter the first edit to conform to what the paper says and relocate it to 2002, and delete the rest. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sscoulsdon (talk • contribs) 14:11, 7 September 2017 (UTC)