About 73% of Malawi’s almost 20 million people live under the poverty line or on less than US$1.90 per day, according to the World Bank. Moreover, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has warned that the country could face chronic hunger in 2022-2026 unless this issue is properly addressed, including in terms of anti-corruption measures.
As confirmation of the above, the President of Malawi, Lazarus Chakwera, said in his latest state of the nation address that “the living conditions and poverty of many Malawians are so harsh that millions are still unable to feed themselves”. He stated that in the past three months, the government has supported over 3.8 million Malawians in 847,421 households throughout the country with food items.
Chakwera had to admit that as well as continuous natural disasters, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ongoing cholera outbreak, Malawi’s chronic food shortage was compounded by corruption and fraudulent practices.
In late 2022, the government shut down its parastatal Agricultural Development Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) and sacked all its 4,063 employees due to rampant corruption and fraud. ADMARC was established in 1971 to lead the trading of smallholder agricultural commodities, including farm inputs, at subsidized prices, and the creation of ready markets for smallholders.
The government’s Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP), which the President launched in late 2022 with the aim to “end hunger and reduce poverty”, has also been in need of reformation.
“In October I announced my intention to redesign the AIP to make it more targeted and efficient in the upcoming fiscal year. This is because after three years of implementation, it has become evident that the program faces a number of challenges, including ineffective targeting of beneficiaries, high cost of farm inputs, and delayed procurement,” Chakwera said.
The local media reported the disappearance of 14 trucks transporting maize bags valued at an estimated US$112,500. Although 600 bags were recovered and the suspected mastermind behind the theft was arrested, the 14 trucks could still not be traced.
Apart from the fight against corruption, President Chakwera has listed other corrective measures to address the food shortage challenges that Malawi faces including agricultural mechanization, commercialization, and industrialization.
When he took office in 2020, President Chakwera pledged zero tolerance for corruption. Although analysts welcomed some positive steps to curtail corruption, the media continued to report corrupt practices by government officials. The 2022 Afrobarometer survey indicated that most Malawians believed that corruption was increasing and that the government was not sufficiently acting to curb this.
