A Brief history of Malawi



Malawi Background Information

Early History of Malawi

Africa has been described as the cradle of humanity, with 3.6 million year-old fossils of humans in the mountains of the east central part of the continent, just north of present-day Malawi. From here, people gradually spread throughout the world – mostly as small groups that would hunt, fish, and gather wild food (“hunter-gatherers”). These developed into civilizations in different parts of the world at various times of history.

At least as long as 10,000 years ago, “hunter-gatherer” people comparable to the Batwa bushmen lived in what is now Malawi. About 3,000 year ago people in Western Africa that spoke the Bantu language started making iron tools, which helped considerably in farming. This improved agriculture, resulted in increased population pressures that started a gradual expansion into eastern and southern Africa - initially along the Congo River basin. About 2,000 years ago, the Bantu-speaking people reached the region around Lake Malawi, chasing out the Batwa. This group of the Bantu, later known as the Chewa, became more organized, and established the “Maravi” empire that eventually extended throughout present-day Malawi, part of Mozambique, and Zambia. This empire was headquartered on the southwestern shores of Lake Malawi – still the agricultural and fishing centre of today’s Malawi. The main activity of these people was initially agriculture, trading food grains to neighbouring tribes to the east, as well as increasingly trading ivory and slaves. This ivory and slave trade was carried out through trade routes to Arabian traders that had established themselves on the coast.

Fish are not talked about a lot in the literature, but no doubt dried fish were an important part of the every-day food supply as they are today, as they would have been for the Batwa.

European contact and the Slave Trade

Trading along the Eastern African coast has occurred since the time of the Egyptians, though it was slowed considerably after the fall of the Roman Empire. Arabian traders revived the practice around 900 A.D., and contact with the Bantu people that had arrived at the coast about 400 A.D. gave rise to the Swahili language, which is still one of the main languages for trading amongst the different people in Africa today. This trade brought gold, ivory and other goods to the middle-eastern and Mediterranean markets, with slaves added to the cargo around 1100 AD. The Maravian empire helped supply ivory and slaves through trade routes along the rivers through what is now Mozambique. The trade intensified with the arrival of the more aggressive Portuguese on the Mozambican coast in the mid 1400’s, and as the coastal tribes and their trading partners (particularly the Yao) pursued slaves in the interior. This intensified during the droughts of 1790 – 1830, when more tribes in Mozambique turned from agriculture to slave trading. Between 1600 and 1850, well over one million African slaves were traded, many sent to Brazil to work on Portuguese plantations as well as to plantations in the West Indies, and the United States. Aggressive invasion by the ferocious Ngoni from the south in the 1840s helped to cause the Maravian empire to start falling apart. Ironically, the Portuguese also introduced corn to Africa during this time, which has turned into a principal food staple throughout the region.

Colonization

Until the mid 1800s, very few Europeans traveled inland beyond the coastal regions, except for occasional short-lived armed invasions and traders. This was because while Africa has many huge rivers, they are not accessible by ship from the coast and travel was difficult, there were many hostile tribes, and diseases that Europeans had no immunity to. Sailors on slave ships were paid high salaries because of the very high risk of dying from a disease caught by coming into contact with African slaves.

However, stories of the interior were very alluring, and in the middle of the 19th Century (1800s) a very famous Scottish missionary named David Livingstone explored the area of Malawi and his publications took Europe by storm. His letters, which were published in European newspapers, generated a lot of interest in learning more about the interior of Africa. After about 1850, many adventurers, traders, and missionaries started to enter this “Dark Continent”.

The British had already established a base for colonial operations in South Africa when Livingston arrived, and during the late 19th Century started moving north. The move was largely incited by Livingstone’s desire to end the slave trade in the region – an agreement between Britain and Portugal had made it illegal in 1936, but it was still flourishing when Dr. Livingstone observed boat-loads of slaves crossing Lake Malawi in 1852. He proposed that alternate trade products and missionary work could end this activity. Some missionary stations were set up, and as these were threatened, Britain claimed what is now Malawi as a protectorate of the British Empire in the 1890’s, naming the territory “Nyasaland” and put gunboats on Lake Malawi to end the slave trade. British settlers moved into Nyasaland and established plantations, particularly of coffee. Tea, sugar, cotton, and peanuts were also grown for export. Africans worked the farms, though they were owned by the British. Because Nyasaland was isolated from the coast and had no railway or good roads, effective trade for export was limited at first. Nevertheless, by the 1950s the country was quite well established, with a good standard of living for at least the British, largely based on a thriving tobacco industry.

Fisheries did not play a large role in export trade for the country, but continues to be very important for the local African diet. The chumbo was the main fish captured, and provided up to 75% of the protein in the diet of the local people. Drying and smoking the fish made it suitable for transport into interior regions. Chumbo is related to tilapia - a fish that is now grown in many parts of the world and should be in a supermarket near you!

Independence

The society in Nyasland was not very equitable. Living conditions for the ruling class, primarily British, were quite good, but for the normal person could be very poor. In 1915, the first uprising by Africans against British rule in Malawi was relatively easily put down. However, by the 1950’s, African people from every part of Africa wanted the European rulers and settlers to leave. They believed they should govern themselves and take charge of their own economies. This movement is often called “Africa for Africans”, and led to different solutions in the various countries, depending on the colonizing nation and their histories.

Demonstrations and increasing opposition movements resulted in Malawi becoming independent nation in 1964. The first Prime Minister of Malawi was Hastings Banda, a doctor educated in the United States and leader of the main opposition movement. While initially democratically elected, Banda soon passed a law that made him “dictator for life”. As a powerful ruler, he continued to maintain an unequal society and tolerated no disagreement, removing from office anyone who questioned anything he did! He was also unique amongst the African black-governed independent nations by establishing ties with the white-minority South African government. The country gained relative affluence through the 1970s for at least parts of society from foreign investment. However, disagreement with the Mozambican government during the civil war in that country led to closure of this border and loss of access to their ports. A severe drought in 1992 led to political unrest, and forced elections in 1994. These factors and corruption during the Banda regime had resulted in substantial deterioration of infrastructure and the economy. The democratically elected government that took over from Banda has tried to improve things, but has also had problems of corruption, and has many difficulties to overcome. The country is now one of the most densely populated in the African continents, but also has one of the lowest Human Development Indices - 164th out of 177 countries listed by the United Nations. .

Socio-economic development and foreign aid

Malawi is a landlocked and densely populated country. The vast majority of people (85%) rural, gain their livelihood from farming on very small pieces of land. Agriculture accounts for 36% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 80% of export revenues as of 2005. The principal crops are corn, cotton, millet, rice, peanuts, cassava, and potatoes. Tea, tobacco, sugarcane, and tung oil are produced on larger plantations (estates). Tobacco accounts for over 53% of the country’s exports, which is being threatened by anti-smoking campaigns but also benefiting from the current unrest in competing Zimbabwe. Most of the country's foreign trade is conducted via Salima, a port on Lake Malawi, which is connected by railroad with the seaports of Mozambique.

Malawi has potential for mining industries (uranium, coal, bauxite) and hydro-electric development, but these industries will require large amounts of capital investment and stable government to become successful.

Infrastructure in the country is quite inadequate, and even with considerable foreign aid, socio-economic progress has been disappointing. The legacy of 30 years of dictatorship created a big gap between the small minority of educated wealthy people, and the uneducated majority who live in poverty. There is a very high level of infant mortality, and more than 14% of adults were infected with HIV/AIDS in 2003 – the average life expectancy is now about 43 years. The rate of HIV infection in the fishing community is higher than the national average, probably in part because they travel around more.

Despite the challenges and obstacles, some political and economic progress has been made in Malawi. Since the peaceful democratic elections in 1994, fundamental human rights are commonly respected, there has been increased government spending on health and education, and there has been an anti-corruption campaign.

The economy of Malawi depends on substantial economic assistance from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and other individual countries (including Canada). In 2006, Malawi was classified as an especially poor country with substantial debt, approved for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program, and it receives about $400 million per year.

What does this mean to the normal person in Malawi?

The economic summary of a nation does not necessarily say too much about how a normal person lives. For example, agriculture is divided into estate farming, which is owned by a small number of individuals and foreign interests, takes up over 50% of the agricultural land and provides over 80% of the exported goods, and small scale and subsistence farmers that make up the rest of the agricultural portfolio. A report in 2006 indicates that 65% of the population is living in conditions of poverty, and studies regularly indicate that even some middle-income people have a hard time making enough money to feed themselves. Up to 30% of the population is infected by AIDS, which is also seriously disrupting families. A “grey economy” based on a barter system is important at this survival level – grains and vegetables are grown for the family’s own use and to sell locally, chickens and pigs are raised to sell or trade, and part-time work (called ganyu ) supplements income (either in money or barter). Many of those that live by the lakes make a living from fishing or assisting in fishing. In the shallower parts of the lake, fishing increases substantially as poverty increases, making sustainable fishing practices hard to enforce.

How does fishing contribute?

Over 20% of Malawi’s surface area is taken up by Lake Malawi, one of the largest lakes in the world. The lake also has one of the greatest levels of fish biodiversity in the world, with over 600 recorded species so far. The Lake drains through the Shire River into the giant Zambesi watershed that eventually flows through Mozambique. A second drainage system feeds the much shallower Lake Chilwa and its famous marshes – a system that has no outlets, so the lake tends to be salty.

Fish have traditionally been an important part of the diet in Malawi. Up to 75% of the protein consumed in Malawi is fish – primarily a tilapia locally called Chambo from Lake Malawi and the matemba, a minnow from Lake Chilwa. These are traditionally dried for storage and trade. Lake Chilwa contributes up to 20% of the fish caught in the country, as well as substantial birds and other resources extracted from marshes. The main fish caught here are a bit different than those of Lake Malawi – matemba (the straightfin barb, a small minnow-like fish) is the main target, followed by makumba, (a tilapia species, similar to the chambo), and mlamba (a catfish). The World Wildlife Fund estimated that fish from this system had a value of $US 18 million in 2002. Some of the country’s greatest population concentrations are around this lake. This system is very shallow, which makes it one of the most productive in Africa, but also results in a variable size and even complete drying up in severe droughts (for example in 1922/23, 1977/78, and 1995).

Currently, over 250,000 people are involved in fishing, but fishery output has been drastically reduced in the last decade. However, climate change, overfishing and habitat destruction have reduced fish consumption and fishing as a source of income.

Before 1900, traditional fisheries were part of a subsistence farming/fishing livelihood. Gillnets, seine nets and fishtraps made of local reed material (chopwa), operated primarily out of dugout canoes, were the technologies used, and management was based on control by local chiefs that ensured a focus on larger fish and a regulation of the fishing pressures.

Fishing expanded after European colonization, and in 1946 a centralized government control of fisheries management was implemented. This included incentives for larger scale commercial fishing in Lake Malawi starting in the 1980s to help address the growing demand for fish in the country and for export. The introduction of nylon nets in 1958 helped to make these fisheries more efficient. However, policing was a problem, as was overfishing, so while 3,250 metric tons were caught by the commercial fishery in 1985, this was reduced to only 207 metric tons in 2002, when the government put a stop to most of these commercial operations. Smaller scale fisheries for local consumption continue in the shallower parts of the lake, but have problems with small-meshed nets and other non-sustainable fishing practices – for example, unrestricted fishing of reproducing fish.

A project in 1992 set up a fishery management system in parts of Lake Malawi that placed management and policing responsibilities back with the community through Beach Village Committees. After Lake Chilwa dried up in 1995, this kind of management was instigated throughout the area, modified to address conflicts with the early local management schemes. Better agricultural and industrial practices are also promoted through these committees. While this has helped, problems with making the best use of fishing potential still exists, and the system is challenged by the continuing influx of new people that are escaping poor living conditions elsewhere.

A fishery for aquarium fish also exists in the country, and can be quite lucrative. Statistics show that in 1996 Malawi exported $22 million worth of aquarium fish, up from $17 million in 1994. However, the activity benefits relatively few people directly. Indirectly, it is quite important in keeping the rest of the world interested in Malawi, though this may lapse as more of the unique fish from Malawi are being bred in other parts of the world. This interest has recently helped initiate a Malawi government campaign called 'Nation, Save the Chambo', which aims to attract foreign and domestic funding to restore stocks to the pre-1990 levels.

How does Aquaculture contribute?

Fish farming has been promoted as an option to help provide both a more regular supply of fish to the local markets and for export. While this started in the 1920s with the introduction of trout for sport-fishing, growing local fish in culture for food started in the 1950s, but the industry remained relatively small. The Maldeco Aquaculture company was established in 2003 to build up chambo stocks through aquaculture, but apparently with a primary focus on exporting (tilapia culture for export can be quite lucrative). Family-based aquaculture to improve local supply of fish has more recently been promoted by the WorldFish Centre and partners, including the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Development aid strategies:

Malawi depends very much on foreign aid. Early aid programs and foreign investment were focused on the “estate” level of activities that improved production of export materials – for example, incentives to build an efficient commercial fishery on Lake Malawi. While this continues to some extent, as in the example of the Aquaculture company (supported by South African and European aid), this has proven to be quite inefficient in reducing poverty. Another approach related to fisheries and aquaculture has been to train people in improved management, such as the Beach Management Councils (supported by the World Bank, European and US aid), improved fish handling and preservation (Memorial University’s Sustainable Fisheries for Food Security project, funded by Canada) and in small-scale fish-farming (WorldFish project with MUN and other partners and a variety of funders). This second approach appears to be producing good results at the grass-roots level, particularly for HIV/AIDS affected poor families.

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