Malawi Women Battle Hunger There isn’t supposed to be hunger in
Malawi these days. President Bingu wa Mutharika, who took office
in 2004 when the country was suffering severe food insecurity,
has made producing enough grain a top priority. As a result,
Malawi today produces a surplus of corn, the country’s dietary
staple. The transformation is often touted as a success story
for Africa. But as Malawians battle climate change and unjust
land tenure, the benefits of the grain surplus aren’t evenly
shared. “Although there is food at a national level, it isn’t
distributed equally throughout the country. There are places
where even in a good year people simply can’t grow enough food
to feed their families until the next harvest,” said Kari Oyen,
the Malawi representative for Norwegian Church Aid. “In many
communities farmers have assets they can monetize, farm animals
or cash crops that they can sell to buy food until the next
harvest time. Yet some farmers are so poor that they have no
additional resources to sel