Latest News #206 - Malawi
July 25, 2002

The following news concerns Malawi.

Bibles unsold as Malawians
face stark choices

BLANTYRE, Malawi — First-hand reports gathered by the Bible Society of Malawi to assess how the country is being affected by the famine in Southern Africa indicate that the situation is critical. The Society thinks that the government is underestimating the number of people at risk of starvation and that aid promised by the international community will not meet the need.

Byson Nakutho, Executive Director of the Bible Society, recently organised fact-finding missions to the central and southern parts of Malawi. He said that although the gathering of this year's harvest had eased the situation slightly, the small amount harvested would not last long, as many people finished eating their crops before the latest harvest began.

“The price of maize, our staple grain, is very high even at this time of harvest,” he said. “Even if maize should be available during the worst period, from November to next March, many people will not be able to afford food.”

“Government sources say some three million Malawians need food aid between now and the next harvest, which will be during March to June 2003, but we believe many more are affected,” he added. “Food aid is being promised by the international community but obviously will not be adequate.”

Mr Nakutho said that with the next harvest due to start in March, the Society’s reports showed that many families had little food to last them until then.

“And as the majority of people are subsistence farmers, there is nothing to sell in order to buy other commodities,” he said. “Our main Scripture distribution partners are facing a lot of problems in selling Scriptures. They all attribute this to the problem of hunger.

“One of our outstanding agents - an old man who is very well known for his ability to sell many Bibles without any problem - still has many which he bought last year unsold. He commented, ‘What really matters to people now is to buy physical food.’”