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This paper discusses contested issues in development related to Indigenous knowledge, and conventional development practice and theory. Drawing on findings from field research, this paper argues that although development aims at improving the quality of life of people concerned, the understanding of such improved life quality is different between local people and development experts. Experts emphasise economic growth as measured by per capita income, which is sometimes inadequate in explaining local people's understanding of development. The findings of the study lay bare the underlying values of local farmers in northern Malawi that contribute to improving quality of life and living standards. Indigenous knowledge developed by farmers shows that progress is understood in terms of adequate food, fresh, tasty value-laden food available for consumption and utilising more than one part of the crops grown, and not just adequate income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies of input subsidy programmes confine their analyses to measuring programme effects over a one-year period. This article estimates the potential longer-run or enduring effects of fertiliser subsidy programmes on smallholder farm households' demand for commercial fertiliser and maize production over time. We use four waves of panel data on 462 farm households in Malawi for whom fertiliser use can be tracked for eight consecutive seasons between 2003/2004 and 2010/2011. Panel estimation methods are used to control for potential endogeneity of subsidised fertiliser acquisition. Results indicate that farmers acquiring subsidised fertiliser in three consecutive prior years are found to purchase slightly more commercial fertiliser in the next year. This suggests a small amount of crowding in of commercial fertiliser from the receipt of subsidised fertiliser in prior years. In addition, acquiring subsidised fertiliser in a given year has a modest positive impact on increasing maize output in that same year. However, acquiring subsidised fertiliser in multiple prior years generates no statistically significant effect on maize output in the current year. These findings indicate that potential enduring effects of the Malawi fertiliser subsidy programme on maize production are limited. Additional interventions that increase soil fertility can make using inorganic fertiliser more profitable and sustainable for smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa and thereby increase the cost-effectiveness of input subsidy programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acknowledging that aid proliferation and a lack of coordination impair aid effectiveness, donors have repeatedly promised to specialize and better coordinate their aid activities, notably in the Paris Declaration of 2005. We exploit data on the exact location of aid projects in Malawi to assess whether the country's bilateral and multilateral donors have acted accordingly at the district and sector level. We do not find compelling evidence for increased aid specialization after the Paris Declaration, and the regional division of labour among donors may even have deteriorated. Our within-country evidence thus broadly corroborates what previous studies have found at the national level of recipient countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the improvement of the gross official reserves of the Reserve Bank of Malawi in Malawi. Assessment of the economic indicators detailing the improvement of the import cover of the banking sector; Impact of the food inflation to the economy.

The article reports on the effect of the global financial crisis on the production and export of tobacco, the chief foreign exchange earner of Malawi. The crisis will affect the export price of tobacco which can become $1.5 per kilogram compared to its original price of $2.5 per kilogram. Bingu wa Mutharika, the country's Minister of Agriculture reacted that Malawi tobacco should not be sold for $1.5 per kilogram. The industry employed more that 80 percent of Malawians and 30 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is achieved from tobacco.

The article reports on the review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the economic performance of Malawi under a three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement. The review enables the release of Special Drawing Right (SDR) worth of US$18.1 million for Malawi. It also brings Malawi's total expenses under the arrangement to SDR worth of about US$52.9 million. The review also states that Malawi's three-year PRGF arrangement was approved on August 5, 2005 to support the economic program of its government for 2005 to 2007.