Things have been tough around the world for a while. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, combined with the climate crisis and the pandemic, has had a huge global impact on everything from the quality of our lives to the cost of living. Prices have been increasing at an alarming rate – in the UK, inflation is at a 40-year high, standing at 10.4%. But some countries have been hit even harder.
Official figures from Malawi’s National Statistical office show that the year-on-year inflation rate for December 2022 stood at 25.4%. Malawi’s currency, the kwacha, was devalued by 25% in May 2022, which made imported goods extremely costly. Food inflation rates in general rose by 31% last year. This increase was even more marked for some food staples, such as corn and rice.
“In January 2022, the price per 50kg bag [of corn] was £10, in June it was £12, in December it was £18 and now it’s £27,” says Robert Thindwa, economic justice specialist at Christian Aid, an international organisation working to end poverty.
This has led to tough choices for some. For instance, farmer Jen Bishop had to decide which of her children to send to college. Both of her sons have places at prestigious institutions: Innocent is a geology student, but he has to walk 15km to class and can’t afford to eat during the day. While Matthew has had his college course put on hold for a year in the hope that his parents will be able to afford the fees by then.
Bishop and her husband farm two acres of land, but they are struggling with the effects of the climate crisis. “The climate has changed in our area,” she says. “The rainfall patterns aren’t as good compared with the previous seven years.”
Malawi is experiencing increasingly erratic weather, caused by climate breakdown, which is disproportionately created by rich countries and affects mostly those in the global south. Erratic weather means that although there is widespread drought across east Africa, Malawi itself has experienced several years of storms and flooding.
The impact of global heating on Malawi was brought into particularly sharp focus in March, when Cyclone Freddy hit the country, causing damage and devastation across more than half of it. Hundreds of people died and more than half a million have been displaced. This is likely to be the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record and comes as Malawi is still undergoing a serious cholera outbreak.
Bishop, who lives in a cyclone-hit area, was forced to abandon her home during the flooding. “We have lost the source of livelihood we had, at a time when we had already invested so much and were expecting to see the yields after our hard work,” she said.
In many parts of Malawi, communities had sowed drought-resistant crops, only to face the opposite issue when their seedlings were washed away by the floods.
Most Malawians work in agriculture, as smallholder farmers, and are also struggling to afford the costs of fertiliser, meaning their yields have gone down. The high cost of food, along with decreased crop production even before the flooding, means that food insecurity is high.
According to Susan Chimbayo, chair of the Nandolo Farmers Association of Malawi (NFAM), there is even the prospect of famine in Malawi this year. “Most basic necessities are unaffordable for farmers. It’s getting worse,” she says.
But one nutritious and resilient crop – pigeon peas – offers a partial solution. Pigeon peas (known as nandolo in Malawi) are a drought-resistant, flood-resistant, easy-to-grow legume that requires no fertiliser. Pigeon peas are usually exported to India where they are used to make dal, but they are also eaten by the farmers themselves. However, pigeon pea farmers have often worked in isolation, using hoes rather than tractors, liable to exploitation by middlemen, and unable to access the more lucrative export market.
In 2015, Christian Aid helped establish NFAM. It supports farmers, 70% of whom are women, in securing the best markets to sell their produce to. “The association was set up to develop a vibrant pigeon pea sector,” says Chimbayo. “We have achieved a lot, linking [the farmers] to profitable markets, and putting cash in their pockets.”
NFAM has done this by connecting pigeon pea farmers and helping them work together at all stages, from production to marketing. More than 10,000 pigeon pea farmers are now members of the association, gaining access to information, grants and business plans. By working collectively, these smallholder farmers can gain access to export markets and avoid being exploited by middlemen. Economies of scale mean that improvements that were previously not possible – such as building warehouses to store the peas or processing them for dal before export – have become more feasible. Farming collectives can also look into long-term projects, such as using the by-products of processed pigeon peas to feed livestock.
Esther Saizi is a pigeon pea farmer, and until recently she was unable to get a reasonable price for her crop. But after she joined NFAM, and started selling pigeon peas as part of a cooperative, her profits increased. “I was able to sell the pigeon peas at a better price with a better market,” she says. “It provided financial stability.”
This stability has meant that Saizi has bought one of her daughters tools to use in the carpentry business she runs with her husband, and is now able to pay the costs associated with school for another daughter. Saizi also has a herd of 13 goats that provide manure for her crops, saving on expensive fertiliser. She uses pigeon peas to make bread and a range of delicious and nutritious snacks, thanks to the recipe book produced by NFAM.
“Christian Aid is very significant in the development of the pigeon pea sector,” says Chimbayo. “We are looking forward to the betterment of the pigeon pea farmers and the sector in general.”
Christian Aid and NFAM are committed to doing all they can to support the farmers. Cyclone Freddy may be the latest climate disaster, but with no substantial reversal of emissions from the global north, it will not be the last. That’s why, when so many people are facing hunger and loss of livelihood, the pigeon pea programme is more important than ever.
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