Malawi : News

News : Malawi : News

The Bay City Times Ann Griffiths of Bay City and AnnaMae Houthoofd of Bay City wrap items in-between the legs of a school desk with heavy duty plastic wrap at Go-To Transport in Bay City Friday afternoon.

The government's decision to devalue the local currency, the Malawi Kwacha, last week has sparked fears that it might affect interest and inflation rates.

The second edition of Sadc Artists Aids Festival is scheduled for Lilongwe in Malawi starting on November 30 until December 6, 2009. (AllAfrica)

Using data from Chimaliro and Liwonde forest reserves in Malawi, this paper investigates how forest dependence influences households' decision to participate in forest co-management programme. The key question of this paper is: What makes people participate in the forest comanagement (FCM) programme in Malawi? In particular, how does forest dependence (share of forest income) affect households participation decisions? The authors find that where forests primarily have a gap filling or safety net (eldis.org)

This paper explores the effect of education on understandings of and support for democratic government in Malawi - paying particular attention to the consequences of primary schooling, which remains the modal experience of Malawian voters. The study indicates that primary schooling promotes citizen endorsement of democracy and rejection of non- democratic alternatives even when it has taken place under authoritarian rule, without explicit civic education. It finds that the educated not only support (eldis.org)

The People's Republic of China, through its Export-Import Bank Bank, has pledged to provide a 65-million-U.S. dollar loan to Malawi towards construction of a modern national stadium in the capital, Lilongwe.

Pop star Madonna is not a welcome icon in Malawi, South Africa. Her recent charitable effort to lease land in Lilongwe to build a school has been met with much negativity by the villagers.

This briefing paper documents the lessons learnt from the Dedza Safety Nets Pilot Project (DSNPP) in Malawi. The DSNPP compared the impact of all three DWT systems, i.e. cash, voucher and in-kind transfers on chronic poverty and vulnerability within a non- emergency context. The project aimed to compare the impact of all three DWT systems, i.e. cash, voucher and in-kind transfers on chronic poverty and vulnerability within a non-emergency context. The specific aim of the project was to enable lessons to (eldis.org)

This report is the outcome of a FAO workshop on 'Effective and Sustainable Seed Relief Activities', convened 2628 May 2003. The aim of the workshop was to improve the effectiveness of seed relief interventions and the contribution they can make to sustainable improvements in seed, food and livelihood security. The report underlines the importance of farmer choice about crops and varieties for improving the effectiveness of seed relief efforts by the UN and other agencies. The report includes: a (eldis.org)

This article, from Human Resources for Health, explores how the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) addresses the challenges of a health workforce bottleneck to the successful implementation of priority disease programmes. The authors consider the possibilities for investment in human resources for health (HRH) in GFATM policy and review 35 GFATM proposals from five African countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania). The authors find that GFATM policy (eldis.org)

Kigali/Kampala Former finance minister Gerald Sendaula has said his quick instincts made him survive death on Thursday when a Rwandair plane bound for Entebbe rammed into the Kigali International Airport in Kanombe, a Kigali suburb.

In Malawi, local government elections are as rare and endangered as the country's black rhinoceros. (AllAfrica)

In response to predictions of an impending food crisis in southern Africa in 2005 - 2006, Oxfam deployed a relief response. As an alternative to emergency food aid, the agency undertook cash transfer schemes in both Malawi and Zambia. This paper presents an evaluation (undertaken in May/April 2006) of this endeavour, providing key lessons for the use of cash transfers in both short-term humanitarian crises and longer-term development programmes. The evaluation finds that, in both countries, the vast majority of (eldis.org)

This paper looks at the treatment of rural productive sectors in Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) for three countries, focussing particularly on agriculture and to a lesser degree forestry, fisheries and tourism. Based on the premise that agriculture and other rural productive sectors will play a major role in poverty reduction, it is assumed that first- generation PRSs have not given adequate treatment to rural productive sectors. The three countries chosen for the study are Malawi, Nicaragua and Vietnam. These (eldis.org)

A plan by Malawi to offer prostitutes low-interest loans to start small businesses in return for abandoning sex work is generating controversy in a country where women are disproportionately affected by high rates of poverty and HIV. (AllAfrica)

No Guts, No Glory is a story from Lilongwe Writers Circle: "First disappointment - " no booze.

Madonna carries her adopted son David at the Home of Hope orphanage in Mchinji village, 135 km west of the capital Lilongwe, April 17, 2007 file picture.

South Africa's Ambassador to Malawi, Ntombi Mabude, is in a stable condition and recovering from her injuries after a car crash in Isipingo, Durban in KwaZulu-Natal. (AllAfrica)

The prestigious World Cup trophy on a world tour has finally arrived in the East African country of Uganda on Saturday night.

Kampala A Centenary Rural Development Bank top manager, who is alleged to have authorised the processing of dubious transactions in the bank, was on Thursday evening whisked to court and charged with theft.

A NEWBURY nurse has been seriously injured in a horrific car crash in Malawi. Teresa Connolly, aged 34, was a front seat passenger when the car she was travelling in overturned in torrential rain in the south east African country last Thursday .

Obstetric fistula is preventable and treatable, but many women in Malawi are unaware of this. The condition is caused by prolonged obstructed labour and is not only one of the most serious complications of childbirth, but also one of the biggest and most disabling health afflictions. The condition can be corrected by a simple surgical procedure. (AllAfrica)

Investment Opportunities : Energy (AllAfrica)

In a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, widespread HIV infection has already translated into full-blown AIDS epidemics. This study is an important step towards understanding the complex threats to society that HIV/AIDS poses, focusing on Malawi as a representative case. It addresses the short and long term impact of HIV/AIDS by bringing together and analysing findings from qualitative and quantitative studies on the spread and impact of the epidemic. Some key conclusions of the study are: HIV and AIDS (eldis.org)

'Most Significant Change' (MSC) is a story-based, qualitative and participatory approach to monitoring and evaluation. This case study of a Malawian capacity building support provider, CABUNGO, examines the usefulness and draw backs of MSC evaluation methods. Key advantages of using MSC to evaluate capacity building include its ability to: capture and consolidate the different perspectives of stakeholders aid understanding and conceptualising complex organisational change processes enhance (eldis.org)

This policy brief encourages greater civil society involvement in debates around national grain (particularly maize) policies and regional food insecurity in Southern African Development Community countries. The brief argues that local evidence on the impact of national maize price and market policies can help to inform this complex issue and to address long term strategies for the region. The report summarises the regional debate over maize market reform which is sometimes characterised as technocrats (with (eldis.org)

This paper examines the educational effects of conditional cash transfers (CCT) for education. The study finds that based on the evidence reviewed in this paper, there is very limited support for the conclusion that CCTs are effective educational instruments, in particular with regards to their ability to increase learning. The study is based on reviews in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Malawi, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The paper is structured in the following (eldis.org)

By Herbert Ssempogo and Eddie Ssejjoba TROUBLED National Forestry Authority boss Damian Akankwasa was yesterday questioned over the sh900m cash that was allegedly stolen from his home in Naguru.

Fuel shortages in Malawi have occurred because the country is running out of foreign currency, partly because the Malawian government lent Zimbabwe 100 million US dollars which has yet to be repaid, according to a report in Wednesday's issue of the Malawian online paper, the "Nyasa Times". (AllAfrica)

This study looks at the on-going land policy reform process in Malawi. This process is formalising customary rights to land by creating individually held land titles. The authors look at: the emerging market in land the impact of land reform on womens land rights (with special emphasis on the distinction between matrilineal and patrilineal inheritance systems that coexist in Malawi) the theoretical, political and empirical basis of the reforms

The authors's find that: active (eldis.org)

Social protection is a relatively new concept in southern Africa. Regular, predictable and guaranteed transfers to the vulnerable in most countries have yet to be integrated into existing policies safeguarding lives following livelihood shocks such as drought and conflict. This study reviews existing knowledge of social protection practices and lessons in Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Although numerous advancements have been made in the thinking and practice of social protection in this (eldis.org)