China–Africa partnership

28 Pages·2012·2.65 MB·English

January 2013 www.un.org/africarenewal
United Nations
Department
of Public
Information
China–Africa
partnership:
positive-sum
game?
Lessons from
Malawi’s food crisis
Politics of succession
Stabilizing Somalia
Contents
January 2013  Vol. 26 No. 3 Formerly ‘Africa Recovery’
6 Cover story
China in the
heart of Africa
Opportunities and pitfalls
in a rapidly expanding relationship
Also in this issue
3 Stabilizing Somalia: a new chapter begins
9 Lessons from Malawi’s food crisis
11 Africa’s food policy needs sharper teeth China is working in the heart of Africa.
12 Ghana’s new path for handling oil revenue  Panos / Dieter Telemans
14 Politics of succession: coping when leaders die
16 Judy Cheng-Hopkins on peacebuilding in Africa
18 Interview with Maged Abdelaziz, UN special
Editor-in-Chief
adviser on Africa
Masimba Tafirenyika
20 Reconstructive surgery for survivors of genital cutting
Managing Editor
Ernest Harsch
Staff Writers
Kingsley Ighobor
Departments Jocelyne Sambira
Research and Media Liaison
23 Wired Rebecca Moudio
25 Watch Arao Ameny
Pavithra Rao
26 Appointments
27 Books Design & Production
John Gillespie
Mulumba Lwatula
Administration
Cover photo:
Bo Li
Chinese and Chadian oil workers side-by-side.   Ruth Fremson / The New York Times / Redux
Distribution
Atar Markman
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Stabilizing Somalia:
a new chapter begins
Two students from Mogadishu University
A “make or provisional constitution, a new presi-
using a laptop for their studies: After
dent and a prime minister.
break” point decades of war, many Somalis are now
able to get on with their lives. 
for the country’s Once labelled “the most dangerous
city in the world,” Mogadishu is  Panos / Sven Torfinn
new leaders
now bustling with activity. Cars
and people fill the streets and the Mogadishu has been free from the
sound of hammers has replaced that iron grip of the Al-Shabaab rebel
of guns, Augustine Mahiga, the UN group since August 2011, when it was
By Jocelyne Sambira
special representative to Somalia, flushed out by forces of the Somalia
told reporters in Nairobi. When Transitional Federal Government
he first visited the city in 2010, it with the help of troops from the
When a Turkish Airlines was a ghost town, he said. The only 9,000-strong African Union Mission
flight touched down at vehicles he could see on the roads in Somalia (AMISOM). While tens
Aden Adde International were military trucks and an occa- of thousands of people were uprooted
Airport near the Somali capital of sional donkey cart. “There wasn’t a by the fighting, the insurgents were
Mogadishu on 16 March, it seemed single building that didn’t have bullet pushed further into south and central
like a sign of good things to come. holes, and most had been destroyed.” Somalia. At the time, a famine was
It was the first time in more than While he was meeting with a Somali quickly spreading across the country,
20 years that a passenger plane from leader, for two or three hours “it with around 3.8 million people in dire
Europe had flown into the volatile was just the sounds of guns, guns of need of humanitarian assistance,
city. Today, more than half a year different calibres, small guns, big according to the UN’s Office for
later, the country has a parliament, a guns and big booms.…” the Coordination of Humanitarian
January 2013 3
process as “undemocratic” and
marred by “unprecedented levels
of political interference, corruption
and intimidation.”
The UN envoy had earlier urged the
elders to use the power of the secret
ballot: “Between you and the box, it
is only God watching you.” The new
legislators seemed to take the advice to
heart. They surprised most Somalis by
voting in a new kind of leadership. They
chose Professor Mohammed Oswan
Jawari, an attorney with a strong track
record in public service, as the new
speaker. And they elected a political
outsider, Hassan Sheikh Mahmud, to
the highest office on 10 September,
a clear break from former president
Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a familiar figure
on the Somali political scene and former
commander of the Islamic Courts
Union (Al-Shabaab was formed in a
Repainting an historical arch in
Federal Government (TFG), which split away from his group). In contrast,
Mogadishu, as Somalia’s capital begins to
was established in 2004, strenuous Mr. Mahmud, an academic and activist,
rebuild from the war.
negotiations between political actors in had only launched his political career
 Panos / Sven Torfinn
Somalia took place to adopt a provisional a year before with his Peace and
constitution, elect a new parliament, Development Party. President Mahmud
Affairs (OCHA). Al-Shabaab’s and appoint a new president and prime in turn appointed as his prime minister
decision to ban several aid groups minister. Some politicians were bent on Abdi Farah Shirdon, an economist and
from areas it controlled further maintaining the status quo in order to businessman who has vowed to fight
eroded its support. extend their own mandates. Increased nepotism and corruption.
pressure by the UN Security Council,
Already weakened, Al-Shabaab forces which threatened "stringent action" More recently, Mr. Shirdon named
lost another strategic city, Kismayo, against any “continued obstruction,” Fauzia Yusuf Haji Adan as his deputy
in early October, after a new offensive helped move the process forward. and the country’s new foreign minister.
by AMISOM and Somali government It is the first time a woman has held
forces. For the past five years, the So for the first time since the collapse such high positions in Somalia.
the rebel force had used the port city of the government of Mohammed Siad
in southern Somalia as a lifeline to Barre in 1991, a new federal parlia- Abdul Sharif, a Somali-American
resupply itself and export charcoal ment was selected. Since security freelance journalist and Africa analyst
to gain revenue for its operations. conditions still did not allow for based in Minnesota in the US, was
Kismayo’s capture has been a major general elections, 135 traditional pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
blow to the group, which is linked elders from various clans and regions “The Somali people have taken a great
to Al-Qaeda. convened in Mogadishu to elect 275 step forward on the path to prosperity.
members of parliament, including Many people thought the transitional
A vote for change women, by secret ballot. Somali elders government would not end, that it was
A UN-backed plan known as the are influential leaders chosen by their going to be a failure. But the Somali
“Roadmap for the End of the Transition” communities to serve for life. people proved many wrong.”
has been lauded for breaking an eight-
year political deadlock in Somalia. The This move gave “legitimacy” to the Good for business
Roadmap spelled out priority measures process, says Mr. Mahiga. However, Having survived an assassination
to end the transition by 20 August 2012 the International Crisis Group, a attempt by suicide bombers just 48 hours
and restore stability to the country. Brussels-based think tank, begged after taking office, President Mahmud
After the dissolution of the Transitional to differ, describing the selection made clear his number-one priority:
4 January 2013
“Security, security, security.” Although
Al-Shabaab is in retreat, the group still
poses a threat around Mogadishu, the
recently liberated Kismayo and other
areas in south-central Somalia.
Abdirashid Duale, the chief executive of
Dahabshiil, the largest money-transfer
business in the Horn of Africa, knows
only too well the cost of doing business
in Somalia. After two decades of
serving the residents of Mogadishu, his
offices have not been spared from the
violence. In 2009, an Al-Shabaab attack
that took the lives of some of his staff
forced him to close some outlets. But his
remaining 29 offices in Mogadishu still
serve as a lifeline for many.
Such attacks have so far not stopped
Installing a sign at one of the first
the commercial boom the capital is at the same time keeping it in force
commercial banks to reopen in Mogadishu,
experiencing. Dahabshiil has seen against non-state actors. The AU is
a 20 per cent rise in its Mogadishu also asking for an expansion of the Somalia.   Panos / Sven Torfinn
transactions in recent months, and UN support package to Somalia, as
the Somali shilling has been getting well as for help in financing the full government actually have money to do
stronger against the dollar, Mr. Duale deployment of military personnel for this? As for AMISOM, military victory
wrote to Africa Renewal. “We have AMISOM, to reach its agreed level of is almost all they talk about. But once
noticed that some of our customers 12,000 troops. they capture a city, what’s next? Nobody
are rebuilding their properties. There really talks a lot about that. The AU
is also a high demand for rental UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon troops are already stretched too thin
properties, especially for business has agreed with President Mahmud to and the government does not talk about
premises.” He notes there are now start peacebuilding activities. Mr. Ban services. People will turn to Al-Shabaab
daily flights to Mogadishu packed wants the UN to establish a “heavy foot- for security and services if they don’t get
with people from the Somali diaspora print” in the country, meaning he wants them from the government.”
returning to invest in their homeland. to have all relevant UN agencies, funds
and programmes move to Somalia by As of January 2012 there were an
Mr. Sharif from Minnesota is looking January 2013 (most have been operating estimated 184,000 internally displaced
forward to joining his grandmother, from neighbouring Kenya). people living in Mogadishu, says
who has been living in Hamarweyme, Russell Geekie of OCHA. A new
a relatively safe area of Mogadishu. Restoring basic services such as water, estimate of well over 200,000 was
“Somalia is making one of the biggest education and health is also crucial to the expected by the end of 2012. The
transformations since the war in new government’s success, Maxamed government’s immediate challenge
1991. We need to give this government Ibrahim, a graduate student of interna- now is to establish local and district
more of a chance to see what it is tional development at the University of administrations, justice and the rule of
going to do, rather than criticize.” Vermont in the US, told Africa Renewal. law. Then it will be in a better position
He is from Bardera, an agricultural city to provide for local populations.
Strengthening security connected to the port of Kismayo. He
Many people with a vested interest in left Somalia in 1995 and has not been For now, Mr. Ibrahim believes that
a peaceful future for Somalia agree back since. He remains a bit skeptical the Somali people are “tired of groups
that strengthening and reforming the about the country’s future. Clan warfare, like Al-Shabaab.” As long as the
national security forces is essential corruption, security challenges and the Somali people remain in control of
to keeping the momentum going. aftermath of the famine are problems any future stabilization effort, he
The African Union is pushing for carried over from the previous admin- concludes, they will be “tolerant” and
the UN Security Council to lift its istration. “No one talks about reforming will give the new government time to
arms embargo on Somalia, while the army, paying taxes.… Does the resolve longstanding problems. 
January 2013 5
China in the heart of Africa
Railway and train station construction
site in Angola, part of an agreement in
which China helps build infrastructure in
exchange for oil: With trade between Africa
and China reaching $166 billion in 2011,
the relationship is one of “give and take.” 
 Panos / Dieter Telemans
China’s largess to Africa is not new.
Previously China had either donated or
assisted in building a hospital in Luanda,
Angola; a road from Lusaka, Zambia’s
capital, to Chirundu in the southeast;
stadiums in Sierra Leone and Benin; a
sugar mill and a sugarcane farm in Mali;
and a water supply project in Mauritania,
among other projects. At the fifth Forum
on China-Africa Cooperation, held in
Beijing in July 2012, Chinese President
Hu Jintao listed yet more, including 100
schools, 30 hospitals, 30 anti-malaria
centres and 20 agricultural technology
demonstration centres.
African leaders continue to insist that
the relationship with China is not a
one-way street and that it includes more
trade than aid. Indeed, trade between
Africa and China was $166 billion in
Opportunities summit the following month, includes 2011, according to the Economist, a
a 2,500-seat conference hall. The UK weekly. “The good thing about this
and pitfalls in a
gift prompted Ethiopia’s late Prime partnership is that it’s a give and take,”
Minister Meles Zenawi to refer to Faida Mitifu, the Democratic Republic
rapidly expanding
Africa’s current economic boom as a of the Congo’s ambassador to the US,
relationship “renaissance,” due partly to China’s told the Reuters news agency.
“amazing re-emergence and its
commitments to a win-win partner- Eye on the pie
ship with Africa.” What then is China taking? In China
By Kingsley Ighobor
Returns to Africa, a collection of essays
Not all Africans have welcomed China’s published by Columbia University Press,
‘China’s gift to Africa.” The gift. West African political commen- the editors Chris Alden, Daniel Large
new headquarters of the tator Chika Ezeanya considers it an and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira note,
African Union, a towering “insult to the AU and to every African “The overarching driver has been the
20-storey building in Addis Ababa, that in 2012 a building as symbolic as Chinese government’s strategic pursuit
Ethiopia, is so called because China the AU headquarters is designed, built of resources and attempts to ensure
picked up the $200 million tab and maintained by a foreign country.” raw material supplies for growing
for the state-of-the-art complex. However, as African leaders savoured energy needs within China.” The world’s
Ethiopia’s tallest building, completed the swanky complex in January, they second-biggest economy currently buys
in December 2011 in time for an AU took turns thanking China. more than one-third of Africa’s oil.
6 January 2013
In addition, China’s industries are
getting raw materials such as coal from
South Africa, iron ore from Gabon,
timber from Equatorial Guinea and
copper from Zambia.
Chinese industries also require new
markets for their products and Africa is
a potentially enormous outlet. “China is
repositioning itself continuously for the
new Africa that’s emerging,” says Kobus
van der Wath, founder of Beijing Axis,
an international advisory and procure-
ment firm based in Beijing.
Chinese products have flooded markets
in Johannesburg, Luanda, Lagos, Cairo,
Dakar and other cities, towns and
villages in Africa. Those goods include
clothing, jewellery, electronics, building Groundbreaking ceremony for a stadium
materials and much more. “Even little image through initiatives such as a $20 in Lusaka, Zambia, to be built by a Chinese
things like matches, tea bags, children’s billion credit to African countries to
company: Sometimes language and other
toys and bathing soaps are coming from develop infrastructure and the African
cultural differences can contribute to social
China,” says Bankole Aluwe of Alaba Talents Programme, which is intended to
tensions.   Thomas Lekfeldt / Moment / Redux
market in Lagos, Nigeria. train 30,000 Africans in various sectors.
African consumers like Chinese China’s give-and-take relationship The “land grab” accusation may be
products because they are affordable. also plays out in other forms. Chinese overstated, according to a study by the
“Chinese goods are cheaper than those construction firms are acquiring UK’s Standard Chartered Bank. But
from Europe and North America. In enormous construction contracts. The the authors of the study believe that in
our business, price is very important to China Railway Construction Corp. the longer term China could well seek
customers,” Mr. Aluwe says. (CRC) signed a $1.5 billion contract in to import much more food from Africa
September 2012 to modernize a railway which, by World Bank estimates, has
Largest trading partner system in western Nigeria. That same 60 per cent of the world’s uncultivated
In an article in This Is Africa, a Financial month, China South Locomotive and land. “Given Africa’s potential, China is
Times publication, Sven Grimm and Rolling Stock Corporation, the largest likely to turn towards it.”
Daouda Cissé state that in recent years train manufacturer in China, signed a
China’s economy at times has grown at $400 million deal to supply locomotives The furore over land adds to growing
more than 10 per cent a year, while cheap to a South African firm, Transnet. In criticisms of the manner of China’s
labour has helped reduce production February 2012 the CRC announced aggressive Africa penetration. Many
costs — hence cheaper products. They projects in Nigeria, Djibouti and Ethiopia Africans often refer to the poor quality
also note, “The low level of the yuan [the worth about $1.5 billion in total. of Chinese products and blame their low
Chinese currency] compared to the other prices for the collapse of local indus-
major world trading currencies such Not all is rosy tries. Comatex and Batexci, two leading
as the US dollar, the euro and the yen” China’s inroads into Africa’s agricultural textile companies in Mali, have been
attracts African importers. sector include the 20 demonstration severely affected by cheap fabrics from
centres that President Hu said will “help Asia (see Africa Renewal April 2012).
Already trade between Africa and China African countries increase production “Hundreds of textile factories collapsed
has grown at a breathtaking pace. It capacity.” But there was a backlash across Nigeria because they could not
was $10.5 billion in 2000, $40 billion in when the government of the Democratic compete with cheap Chinese garments,”
2005 and $166 billion in 2011. China is Republic of the Congo leased thousands noted the Economist, which approvingly
currently Africa’s largest trading partner, of unutilized hectares of land to ZTE added that the Tanzanian government
having surpassed the US in 2009. The International, a Chinese company, in a has stopped Chinese from selling in that
Chinese government is eager to cement deal that Oxfam, a UK charity, and others country’s markets. Chinese are welcome
China’s dominance by burnishing its have labelled a “land grab.” as investors, but not as “vendors or shoe
January 2013 7
approach to aid delivery make
it more attractive than Western
donors, whose aid often comes with
demands to improve human rights
and democracy.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
recently warned against a “new colo-
nialism in Africa,” in which it is “easy to
come in, take out natural resources, pay
off leaders and leave.” It was a veiled jab
at China, according to the Guardian, a
UK newspaper. But Ms. Clinton’s point
echoed across the continent, and it
appears that African leaders are now
treading cautiously.
A worker hauling a bag of rice at a
raise taxes at a whim. And most African South African President Jacob Zuma
Chinese-owned supermarket in South
economies are still fragile, subject to warned in July that the current “unbal-
Africa: Chinese products have flooded
shocks from the global economy. anced” trade pattern is unsustainable.
markets across Africa, benefiting
He was referring to the tendency of
consumers but sometimes driving China hopes to minimize social tensions Africa to export raw materials to China
African manufacturers out of business. by bridging the information gap. Xinhua, while largely importing only cheap
 Africa Media Online / Jonathan Katsenellenbogen China’s state-run news agency, has manufactured goods. Maged Abdelaziz,
increased its bureaus in Africa to more the UN Secretary-General’s special
shiners,” said the Economist. In May, Neil than 20. In 2008 the China Africa adviser on Africa, told Africa Renewal
Bruce, head of Zimbabwe’s Furniture News service was launched, to report that the continent must develop a
Manufacturers Association, told the “China-Africa news stories from African, strategy for its dealings with emerging
country’s parliament that imported Chinese and Western sources.” In early economic giants such as China, Brazil
Chinese furniture, “which is not strong,” 2012 China Central Television (CCTV) and India.
is crippling the local furniture industry. opened a broadcast hub in Nairobi, Kenya
— its first outside of its Beijing headquar- Along this line, talks began in South
Performance assessments of some ters. Its strategy has been to hire some of Africa in June 2011 to merge three
Chinese investors have not been stellar. Africa’s brightest journalists to report on regional trade groupings (the East
The managers of Chinese-run mines in Africa to viewers in about 170 countries. African Community, the Common
Zambia have been accused of not taking Market for Eastern and Southern
adequate safety measures for their local “We have the news of what is happening Africa and the Southern African
workers. A Chinese oil firm is exploring in Africa, we tell a positive story,” says Development Community) into a
in a Gabonese national park, angering Pang Xinhua, the CCTV managing “grand free trade area” incorporating
environmentalists. editor. But Yu-Shan Wu, a researcher 26 countries with a combined gross
at the South African Institute of domestic product of $1 trillion. Such
Bridging the culture gap International Affairs, sees a broader a combined strength could give
On the flip side, Chinese investors face motive. “China is actively introducing Africa a more assertive voice at the
huge challenges in Africa. In an article its culture and values,” she says, and negotiating table.
in the Globe and Mail, a Canadian calls the push “the rise of China’s
newspaper, David Berman maintained state-led media dynasty in Africa.” The China-Africa relationship will
that cultural differences between get stronger. The editors of China
Chinese and Africans, including the Western concerns Returns to Africa sum it up: So long
language barriers, often lead to social In the view of David Shinn, former as Africa’s development requires
tensions, and that poor infrastructure US ambassador to Burkina Faso and huge foreign investments, so long
in Africa makes business operations Ethiopia, the West is nervous about will China continue to be relevant.
difficult. Frequent power outages in China’s activities in Africa. Mr. Shinn “Irrespective of the concerns being
some countries raise production costs, adds that China’s policy of non- voiced in some circles in Africa,
while policies towards businesses are interference in the internal affairs Chinese involvement is widely consid-
inconsistent. African governments can of African countries and its fast ered to be a positive-sum game.” 
8 January 2013
What went wrong? Lessons
from Malawi’s food crisis
Autocracy and aid
dependency killed
an agriculture
success story
By Masimba Tafirenyika
Once again Malawi finds itself
in a tight spot. A food crisis
set off by erratic rains, rising
food prices and economic hardships
is slowly unfolding. For the first time
in several years, the country’s ability
to feed its citizens is at risk. Sadly and
unexpectedly, Malawi has lost its hard-
earned status as an agricultural success
story — it used to produce enough maize
for its people to eat and still provide
a surplus to neighbours. Many are
now wondering what went wrong and
whether there could be lessons for other
African countries.
More than 1.63 million people, or 11
per cent of the population, are facing
severe food shortages, according to
the World Food Programme, a UN
relief agency. Malawi needed $30
million to the end of 2012 to cover the
Malawi has gone from bountiful maize
shortfall. Agriculture is the backbone populated landlocked Southern
crops to renewed uncertainty: Strong,
of its economy: four in five people rely African nation, it is less an abrupt
democratic leadership and sound policies
on it for income. Most farmers plant change in fortunes than a series of
are essential for ensuring food security
on small plots by hand with little irri- self-inflicted injuries unfolding in
gation, and therefore are vulnerable slow motion.  Africa Media Online / South Photos / Graeme Williams
to recurring droughts, notes the UN
Food and Agriculture Organization. Increased farm subsidies and seed so that they could replenish
Malawi is home to Africa’s third- Back in 2004, President Bingu wa the soil nutrients, take advantage of
largest freshwater lake — Lake Mutharika, who died in office in early improved seed varieties and at least
Malawi — yet less than 3 per cent of 2012, rode into power on a promise achieve a livable crop from their tiny
the land is irrigated. to increase farm subsidies as part of farms,” says Africa Confidential, a
his Farm Input Subsidy Programme. UK-based newsletter. The vouchers
Malawi’s current troubles might seem Under the plan, the government gave were redeemable for seeds and
surprising. Yet to those who follow subsidy vouchers to “smallholders fertilizer at about one-third of the
events in the tiny, poor and densely to buy a small amount of fertilizer normal cash cost.
January 2013 9
The results were instant. In 2005, qualified yes. But for it to happen, of external partners. Food security
a year after expanded subsidies certain conditions must exist. requires the same seriousness and
kicked in, Malawi harvested a grain resources as national security, if not
surplus of half a million tonnes. First, an essential ingredient for more. In fact, national security loses
In subsequent years it exported success in agriculture is strong political its legitimacy if thousands of citizens
grain to Lesotho and Swaziland, will at the highest level. In his book The die not from enemy firepower but from
as well as 400,000 tonnes of maize New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation starvation, or risk their lives crossing
to Zimbabwe. Food experts and in Africa, Calestous Juma, a Harvard borders while fleeing from hunger.
advocacy groups took turns at University professor originally from
international forums extolling Kenya, argues that African leaders And finally, Africa needs a strong
Malawi as an example of Africa’s should make agriculture a key element food policy backed by resources
“green revolution.” Exploiting of all major economic decisions. from African Union members, to be
his new-found success, President invested in institutions that promote
Mutharika called on other African Rhoda Tumusiime, the head of agricul- agriculture. One tangible AU response
leaders to embrace his policies. Now ture at the African Union Commission, has been the Comprehensive Africa
the tables have turned, and Malawi agrees. She notes that while success in Agriculture Development Programme
is facing severe food shortages. agriculture does not have many drivers, (CAADP), which requires countries
leadership is crucial. “There must be a that sign up to it to spend at least
Ironically, even during the years of key political champion at head-of-state 10 per cent of their national budgets on
plenty, Malawi continued to import level to steer and champion a vision on agriculture (see page 11). CAADP itself
large quantities of wheat, maize agricultural revolution,” she told the has a very small budget, but it uses the
and other cereals, says FAO, and Economic Commission for Africa. little it has to strengthen agricultural
isolated pockets of hunger remained. institutions and build teams of skilled
In pursuing subsidies, Mutharika Mr. Mutharika not only had the personnel who roam the continent
defied donor critics who alleged political will, but tried to lead by sharing best practices with national
that the programme was riddled example. And his anti-poverty policies authorities.
with corruption, ran counter to the attracted many advocates. The director
principles of free markets and was of the New York–based Earth Institute “There is no doubt that African agri-
unsustainable. Indeed, by 2009 the at Columbia University, Jeffrey Sachs, culture needs strong local institutions
government was spending 16 per cent who has worked closely with Malawian to avoid the kind of bubble that we saw
of its budget on subsidies. authorities to fight poverty, is among in Malawi, which was largely driven by
them. “We should … remember a external energy,” Martin Bwalya, the
Over time President Mutharika positive legacy of the late president head of CAADP, told Africa Renewal,
became autocratic, amid charges of Mutharika, because that legacy holds a alluding to Malawi’s dependence on
corruption and cronyism. In 2009 key for Africa’s future development and donors for its short-lived success.
he spent more than $20 million escape from poverty,” Sachs wrote in an CAADP, which is run by the New
on a long-range presidential jet. op-ed in the New York Times. Partnership for Africa’s Development
Worse, he started promoting his (NEPAD), the AU’s development agency,
brother Peter, then foreign minister, “Until his final two years, Mutharika had recognizes that Africa needs institu-
as his successor, further alienating actually engineered an agriculture-led tions whose effectiveness and shelf-life
donors, on whom Malawi depends. boom in Malawi, one that pointed a do not depend on the survival of indi-
As the donors abandoned him, the way for Africa to overcome its chronic viduals.
economy tanked and protesters hunger, food insecurity, and periodic
took to the streets, leading to extreme famines,” said Sachs. He Mr. Mutharika tried to follow the path
political instability. credited the late president for standing of subsidies and largely succeeded.
“bravely against the arrogance of an Countries that have pursued Malawi’s
Leadership is key ill-informed foreign aid community lead have “achieve[d] breakthroughs
Now that a previously successful back in 2005.” in farm yields and food production for
experiment with an “African green the first time in their modern history,”
revolution” is unraveling, what are Food security equals said Professor Sachs. Mr. Mutharika’s
the lessons for others? With a popu- national security successor, Joyce Banda, Africa’s third
lation of more than a billion and Second, while foreign aid is critical in female president, now has to formulate
counting, will Africa ever be able to feeding the hungry and reviving agri- a new food policy, woo back the donors,
produce enough food for its people? culture in Africa, food security is too stabilize the economy and again get
The answer to that question is a important to be left to the generosity agriculture back on track. 
10 January 2013