While the world is focusing attention on the severe food
shortages in Niger, a UN agency is warning that Malawi is facing
its worst food crisis in more than ten years. The Food and
Agriculture Organization says Malawi’s maize production has
suffered from drought, floods, poor harvests, poverty and the
effects of HIV/AIDS. Tesfai Ghermazien, the FAO’s senior
emergency coordinator for Malawi, says very little rain fell in
late January and February. “It started very well in December and
early January. It was very hopeful. But unfortunately,
especially in February, it failed and most crops went to
permanent wilting,” he says. He says poverty makes the situation
worse. Farmers are unable to invest in their land to produce
more maize so they can keep some in reserve. “Malawi is not that
poor in natural resources. It has a lot of water and it has
enough land. But investment in agriculture has not been that
big, so far. So, agriculture being the economic base of the
country, it should receive the attention it’s suppo