Malawi

Malawi is a landlocked, densely populated country located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Malawi borders Zambia to the northwest, Mozambique surrounds it on the east, south, and west, and Tanzania borders to the north. According to the Index of Economic Freedom 2007, which ranks countries based upon ten different freedoms, Malawi is ranked number 106 out of 157. Although Malawi is not the worst off country, there are many reasons to explain why Malawi's economy is unstable and is ranked as one of the world's least developed countries. The country has been faced with terrible government corruption, a low Human Development Index due to a low life expectancy rate, literacy and enrollment rate, a low GDP per capita, limitations of its geographic location, and widespread disease.

One of the reasons that can explain why Malawi is in such a poor economic state is due to their government corruption. After Malawi was given independence from Britain in the late 1960's, the authoritarian rule of Dr. Hastings K. Banda began and went on for over three decades. In 1966 Banda became the prime minister, or "dictator", of Malawi and during that year he declared his party, the Malawi Congress Party, the only legal party which everyone was required to belong to. Every adult citizen was given a party card and was required to carry it at all times and show it during random police checks. He was quoted saying "one party, one leader, one government, and no nonsense about it" ("Malawi"). Then in 1971, Banda was declared by his party the MCP, "His Excellency the Life President of the Republic of Malawi, Ngwazi Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda", which further consolidated his authoritarian rule ("Hastings Banda").

Although Kanda promised civil rights and liberties, it never happened, almost every aspect in the Malawi people's lives were monitored and controlled by the government. To start, in every building it was required that there was a picture of Banda hanging on the wall, and nothing could be hung higher than his picture. Every movie, and item sold in bookstores had to be viewed, edited, and approved by the Malawi Censorship Board. Television was completely banned, and the press and radio was tightly restricted and was mainly used for government propaganda purposes. Banda banned any public displays of affection, and also enacted a strict conservative dress code that even foreigners who entered the country had to follow.

Books that had any history which dated back prior to Banda's rule were mostly destroyed and many tribes had their languages and books banned. In addition, mail was also opened and looked at, telephone conversations were monitored, and if anyone ever spoke poorly about Banda they were punished by deportation, arrested, or even executed. Although Banda did many terrible things, he did do some good. He was supportive of women's rights and encouraged women to further their education and he established major roads, airports, hospitals, and schools. In 1993, Banda's one-party state was turned over and he was stripped of his title and powers. Unfortunately, Banda was believed to have collected and left office with $320 million in assets during his reign.

In 1994, Bakili Muluzi won Malawi's first official democratic multiparty election. However, not much could be said for him either. While in office he was accused of corruption and scandal, particularly due to the sale of Malawi's reserves of maize before a drought that caused famine all throughout the country. Once the reserves were found missing, the millions that should have been earned from the sale of the maize were never turned over by Muluzi. With such corruption and control for so many decades, it is easy to see why economic growth has been hindered in Malawi.

Another indicator to show that Malawi is a poverty-stricken country is the Human Development Index. The HDI measures the average achievements in a country based on three dimensions of human development: life expectancy, adult literacy rate and gross enrollment rates, and standard of living measured by gross domestic product per capita at purchasing power parity. For 2006, Malawi's HDI was .400 and was ranked 166 out of 177, which is not too promising. The life expectancy for someone born in Malawi is 39.4 years, the literacy rate and gross enrollment rate is 62 percent, and the gross domestic product per capita is $596. As discussed in class, according to the United Nations anyone who has below $2 a day is considered to be living below the poverty line, and since Malawi's GDP per capita is only $596, this means on average a family in Malawi has a purchasing power of $1.63 a day, which clearly shows that many living in Malawi are living below the poverty line. To put this into perspective, the United States HDI is .948, the life expectancy for someone born in the United States is 77.5, the literacy rate and gross enrollment rate is 93 percent, and the gross domestic product per capita is up to $48,000, all of which far surpasses Malawi.

As stated previously, Malawi is a landlocked country which a population of 12,884,000, making it one of the most densely populated countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Great Rift Valley runs through the country from the north to south and within this trough is Lake Malawi, the third-largest lake in Africa, which makes up 20 percent of Malawi's area. The rest of the country is mainly made of up a plateau that ranges from 2,500 to 4,500 ft in height, and reaches elevations of 8,000 ft in the north and 10,000 ft in the south. Malawi has a subtropical climate, the rainy season occurs from