These were two of the comments made by participants at a two-day national food security forum held in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. The purposes of the event were to review food security progress and issues facing Malawi, how institutions were addressing them, and what needed to happen for progress to be sustained. The event's importance was as much an issue of local participation and ownership as it was about issues being discussed.

The June, 2000 forum, organized and hosted by two civil society organizations—the National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) and the Malawi Food Security Network (MFSN) --brought together donors, government officials, civil society organizations and smallholder farmers to discuss current conditions and needs. Nearly 100 people participated in the event. The farmers came from across Malawi either as independent farmers or, frequently, as members of farmers’ organizations. The farmers were the key resource in understanding what had been working, and what had not, to alleviate food pressures and poverty in Malawi.

NASFAM joined OXFAM and Land of Lakes (LOL) to describe improvements in food security coming from civil society organization programs.

OXFAM spoke about its programs among small-scale farmers in the Southern Highlands, one of Malawi’s poorest regions. According to OXFAM’s evaluations, their new program providing small-scale loans, training and extension in skills and technology, some farming inputs, and social development programming (literacy, numeracy, primary healthcare) was improving local nutrition and income. Because the program was in its first year, OXFAM offered no long-term trends from its holistic model for rural development.

NASFAM spoke about how organizing benefits farmers. Producer organizations enable farmers to receive better terms on transportation and credit inputs. Evidence from NASFAM’s recent program research suggested that farmers belonging in producer organizations suffered fewer "hunger months" than those who did not. Diversifying production to include subsistence and cash crops benefited smallholder farmers. And planting new crops such as ginger, peppers and other spices gave smallholder farmers new sources of income. Other important conclusions drawn from the study included the added benefits available to members and non-members when market information becomes timely and accessible.

LOL spoke about the need in developing countries to start up new products and markets. The dairy industry has been insignificant to Malawi’s economy (not to mention the Malawi diet) but citing experience in Uganda, where LOL has worked with farmers to develop a cooperative structure for dairy production, LOL pitched the needs for product innovation and diversification, and the importance of cooperatives for minimizing risk in a new industry. But it was the added nutrition value of dairy sources that gave the project long-term importance for the listeners.

Smallholder farmers who attended the forum agreed with the NGO conclusions that improvements in crop diversification, cash-cropping and market access, organizational capacity, and upgrades in technical and marketing skills benefit household food security.

Other evidence presented pointed out concerns. One concern was that not all groups benefited equally from organizational activity in the new economy. Moreover, landholders with very small holdings—one-half hectare (about 1 acre) or less could not rely solely on agriculture for their food security, but needed other income sources. Almost all from this group have sophisticated coping strategies—including working at a variety of jobs and borrowing or selling assets during bad times. Participants agreed producer organizations need to think more creatively about programming to add to the food security of their poorest members.

Photo: M. Kuchinsky

Small group discussions that looked at ways forward were a feature of the forum. In these discussions, participants from the different institutions and social groups mixed so that farmers talked directly with government staff, donors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There were three themes: the needs of smallholders and their organizations, government policies and their impact; and the role of donor assistance. Conclusions drawn by the participants were the following:

Greater networking capacity among civil society organizations and between civil society organizations and governmental officials is vital if programs are to be improved and extended.

Debt relief and social development programming are directly related to food security and issues of production.

Foreign assistance in capacity building activities should target grassroots organizations as well as governmental ministries and agencies.

Producers needed more accessible production and marketing information (though there had been improvement in the flow of information).

Information about government policies also needed to become more accessible and understandable.

The availability of land was a key issue.

Social investment funds (such as from the World Bank) offer needed resources for local program innovation, but more resources and surer access to funds by individuals and groups were needed.

The poorest Malawians still need a "safety net" of resources and programs to meet ongoing poverty needs.

In a real sense, the forum was a success just because it happened. Meetings that use the differences among social groups and their perspectives to better understand a common set of problems are rare. Participation was evidenced by the use of Chichewa, a local language, in the discussions, and the role of local civil society groups as the facilitators of the event. The Malawi Food Security Network hoped to take the information gleaned from the forum to its members in other group discussion programs around the country. It also planned to push the government and donors to address programs linking the above conclusions to a way forward.

(The Malawi Forum was part of the research/education and advocacy project on food security, a partnership between Bread for the World Institute, the National Association of Smallholder Farmers of Malawi, and the National Union of Peasants in Mozambique. The partnership has helped Bread for the World to better understand legislation which it has supported to aid African agriculture. The project is funded through a grant by the Ford Foundation).

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