Malawi: The warm heart of Africa

Don’t worry everyone..we are alive and well. Here is some information to introduce you to Malawi, the beautiful country where we spent the last two weeks!

Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's most densely populated and least developed countries. Like many African countries, Malawi was once a British colony called Nyasaland. It became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. When translated, the name Malawi means Lake of Stars. It is bordered by Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia, and it is slightly smaller than Pennsylvania.

Fishermen on Lake Malawi

The economy of Malawi is predominately agricultural with about 85% of the population living in rural areas. Major agriculture products are tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), sorghum, pulses, groundnuts, Macadamia nuts; cattle, and goats. Agriculture accounts for more than one-third of GDP and 90% of export revenues. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to short-term growth as tobacco accounts for more than half of exports. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations.

Tea Harvesting

Tobacco Harvesting

The government faces many challenges including developing a market economy, improving educational facilities, facing up to environmental problems, dealing with the rapidly growing problem of HIV/AIDS, and satisfying foreign donors that fiscal discipline is being tightened. The life expectancy of a Malawian is 43 years, which is comparable to Zambia. Estimates take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS (the AIDS rate in Malawi is 14%, which is also quite comparable to Zambia….and really high!!); this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.