Malawi : News

[Malawi News Agency]Machinga -Malawi is likely to settle for the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) marriage age of 18 following consultations the Ministry of Gender and Child Welfare embarked on to incorporate stakeholder's views to determine the right minimum matrimonial age after parliament had settled for 16. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Mangochi -Friends of Netherlands have donated assorted medical equipment towards the maternity and laboratory of Mpondasi Health Centre in Mangochi valued at K2.2 million. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Member of Parliament for Lilongwe North West Fredrick Kamwangala on Friday announced his resignation from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to join Government side in Parliament. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Nsanje -Thirteen Local Development Fund projects including school blocks and teacher houses that were planned to finish by October last year remain incomplete in Nsanje. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Mzuzu -Northern Region Area Labour Office has warned employers in the region against paying their employees below the Government current minimum wage of K8, 259 per month. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Blantyre -Flames captain Joseph 'Shakira' Kamwendo was the centre of attraction on Saturday at the Zomba Community Centre Ground during a Presidential Cup encounter between his former club Mighty Wanderers against Chinamwali FC as thousands of fans surrounded his car after the match to have a sight of the inspirational midfielder. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Blantyre -The Netball Association of Tanzania (CHANETA) has announced that the country will not take part in the coming African Netball Championship which is scheduled to kick-off on June 24th, 2013 at Blantyre Youth Centre in Malawi. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Mzuzu -University of Malawi (Unima) mature entry students say lack of consideration by the students union and university council to come up with quick resolutions on disagreements leading to frequent closures is hitting hard on them. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Mzuzu -National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) has expressed interest to work in partnership with media institutions and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) following reports that Malawi Electoral Commission (EC) will not fund civic and voter education service providers. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Blantyre -The Malawi Electoral Commission says it will hire 650 registration teams to carry out registration exercise starting 22 July, 2013. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -Government has backed the current water and electricity tariff hike saying it is the only way that will allow Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) and Water Boards to maintain machinery used in their service delivery. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -The Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court Thursday sentenced Mussa Yusuf Chapola to 15 months imprisonment with hard labour, for stealing Malawi Telecommunications Limited (MTL) cables in Area 23 in Lilongwe. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -Malawi will this year join the rest of the countries of Africa in commemorating the Africa Public Service Day on June 23, 2013, Chief Secretary to Government, Hawa Ndilowe, has announced. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Kasungu -The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) Saturday oversaw the auditioning of accredited drama groups to be involved in civic education for the forthcoming tripartite elections in Kasungu. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -240 women from 16 villages in Kakoma Section of the Mbawa Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Mzimba district on Thursday graduated with certificates in Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) after attending 10 sessions on nutrition and cooking demonstrations. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Mzuzu -Newly elected Nyika Media Club chairperson says he is geared to take the northern region media practitioners' grouping to greater heights and ensure that the club does not hibernate again. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Thyolo -Friends of Claude Hol in Thyolo Association (FOCHTA) will this month commence the construction of a K58 million vocational training centre to help out of school vulnerable youths access training. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -Despite the gravity of impact mental illness is inflicting on Malawi's development, there has been very little and inadequate intervention, resulting in the health personnel operating under almost impossible conditions, Malawi News Agency (Mana) has learnt. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Nkhotakota -A police officer has died while four other people have sustained serious head injuries after a vehicle they were travelling in swerved and overturned at Liwaladzi in Nkhotakota. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Blantyre -Peter Mponda, former captain of the Malawi National Team will at the end of this month know his future in as far as playing competitive soccer is concerned, he told Malawi News Agency. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -Lilongwe Water Board is alarmed by increasing levels of water pollution in the district's rivers every year, a situation which has justified the installation of a compulsory raw water conveyance system of Lilongwe River to the treatment plants. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Mangochi -Anaspiring parliamentary candidate for Mangochi Masongola Constituency, Cassim Namwera has donated various construction materials worth K300, 000 towards the rehabilitation of Luchichi Clinic. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Nsanje -In readiness for 2014 tripartite Elections, Nsanje District Commissioner (DC) Bennet Nkasala said everyone should take a leading role in Electoral Civic Education to ensure free and fair elections. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Machinga -Ministry of Information and Civic Education is calling on news and communication channels in the country to put women rights and gender issues on the agenda for the society to recognize their contribution in various roles. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -Parliament Thursday adopted the Personal Property Security Bill which is aimed addressing challenges Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in accessing finances for the businesses. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Blantyre -Blantyre Labour Office (BLO) has bemoaned the rapid increase of child labour cases in the district as statistics indicate that over 30 percent of children ranging from 5 to 14 years are employed in domestic and informal sectors. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Nsanje -Male resistance for Voluntary Testing and Counseling with their wives is promoting the spread of HIV and AIDS and making safe motherhood unachievable in Nsanje district. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare says it has developed a comprehensive programme on the rehabilitation of street children and children with disabilities begging on the streets to reunite them with their parents. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Lilongwe -As Malawi joins the rest of the world in commemorating the Day of the African Child, Government has called on stakeholders to join hands in the fight against child marriages in the country. (AllAfrica)

[Malawi News Agency]Mwanza, June 13a: The Mwanza and Neno Ground Water Development Project has sunk 120 boreholes in the two catchment districts, a development which would see over 25,000 households bid farewell to scarce and unhygienic water challenges. (AllAfrica)

This study uses simple non-separable farm household models calibrated to household, market, farming and policy context conditions in Central and Southern Malawi. The models are used to simulate how household characteristics, design and access to input subsidies affect the demand for improved maize seeds; how increasing land scarcity affects the cropping system and demand for improved maize; and how access to improved maize seeds affects household welfare with varying access to input subsidies. The model simulations demonstrate that a) there is a high risk that access to subsidized improved maize seeds can crowd out commercial demand for improved maize seeds but the effect is very sensitive to household characteristics, market characteristics and relative prices; b) increasing land scarcity increases the demand for improved maize seeds and improved maize facilitates intensification among others through intercropping of maize with legumes such as beans and pigeon peas; c) the welfare effects depend on households’ ability to utilize the potential of the improved varieties by combining them with complementary inputs.