Farming is the backbone of the Malawian economy and around 85% of the population subsists on what they are able to produce in their own fields.
With land at a premium and many unable to afford sufficient agricultural inputs, a large percentage of the population is not “food secure”.
Over the years we have tried to help in a small way, encouraging local farmers to adopt so-called Conservation Farming techniques, which we trialled on a small rented plot of ground adjacent to our home in Thondwe. Although these techniques appeared to produce appreciable increases in yield, it proved difficult to coax people to adopt them in favour of their long-established farming habits.
Although we have since discontinued this project, we don’t consider the time we invested in it as completely wasted. It simply isn’t possibly to understand the Malawian psyche until you know something of the emotional roller-coaster which is small-scale farming, and this has helped us develop a much deeper and more sympathetic understanding of everyday life for the average Malawian.
