I'm riding matola from an engineering conference by the beach (I know, tough life). We're whizzing by villages, passing mud huts with grass roofs, clothes lines up, with children running around. Adults are sitting in the shade that their roofs provide and are chatting happily. I see an old woman walking around bare foot through the dust and dirt, carrying tomatoes. I think about this old woman. You know, a lot of us might look at her and pity her. But, she carries a lot of dignity. She looks happy. She just wants to make sure her kids and grandkids are okay, like any grandma. The only difference between her and me, aside from our gender and age, is that my life might have a bit more of a safety net to it. Welfare, health care etc. Or so I hope, sometimes I think we all walk a fine line, just at the edge of the precipice, but that's a story for another day.
This woman, she has never used a computer, never driven a car. She's woken with the sun, and gone to bed with the moon. She doesn't think about cell phones, or what the latest fashion is in Italy. She hasn't attended a football match, yet she is dignified. There are so many different ways of living. A lot of times, my life in Canada has been racing after things that I thought I needed, that I thought I wanted, that I thought were necessary to fulfill my part in the social contract. But, really there is no more value in my life than there is in hers. Mine might be more varied, and I might have more opportunity to try new and different things, but at the end of it, her friends and family will mourn her at her funeral just as mine will me. She is important to someone, and has contributed to the life of someone. I hope I can do the same.
As an overseas volunteer, I am not here to bring dignity to her. She already carries much more than I can ever give. She has much more than I do. All I want to see is that her vulnerability is reduced. That when she gets sick, there is a hospital. That when her kids or grandkids need to learn, there is a school. That the scourge of HIV/AIDS transitions from reality to memory. I'm not kidding myself. I can't do any of these things, but I want to see them done. We can all work together to see these happen. We can reduce vulnerability. She already possesses dignity. She recognizes it in herself. Perhaps, we will all work to eliminate these vulnerabilities when we recognize it in her as well.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Rainy Season
The weather is hot. We're expecting the rainy season to start soon, and let me tell you it will be a welcome respite from this heat. Although, it will probably still be hot, and will just add some humidity. It hasn't rained (aside from the odd spittle) here in about 6 months. Malawi, according to the department of water only has 1500 cubic metres of water per person per year in ground water and river systems, which is less than the 2000 cubic metres stated by the United Nations as required for human development. Malawi's situation is unique. What happened? My friend Graham's visit to a Stephen Carr shed some light on the situation.
Who is Stephen Carr,? you ask. He is an elderly gentleman who has been working in development throughout Southern Africa for the past fifty years. He's something of a food expert in these parts. Ol' Stevie said that one of the things that makes Malawi unique is that it has a high population density with only one rainy season. Other countries in the area either have lower population densities or have more than one growing season.
So, what do we do? Malawi needs its irrigation schemes to be developed. But how, you ask, when the water is too little for full development? Hmmm, good questions. Luckily that number doesn't include the lake, which, if you include it, pushes the number up to 3000. But, that lake would have to be used quite extensively, and the infrastructure would be enormous. All the problems seem to be magnified and compouned through and through. But I guess that is life.
Who is Stephen Carr,? you ask. He is an elderly gentleman who has been working in development throughout Southern Africa for the past fifty years. He's something of a food expert in these parts. Ol' Stevie said that one of the things that makes Malawi unique is that it has a high population density with only one rainy season. Other countries in the area either have lower population densities or have more than one growing season.
So, what do we do? Malawi needs its irrigation schemes to be developed. But how, you ask, when the water is too little for full development? Hmmm, good questions. Luckily that number doesn't include the lake, which, if you include it, pushes the number up to 3000. But, that lake would have to be used quite extensively, and the infrastructure would be enormous. All the problems seem to be magnified and compouned through and through. But I guess that is life.
Straight for the cliff
Funny thing about human nature. We see these disasters coming. Yet we do nothing to change, always hoping that we’re wrong, that it will all work itself out. The funny thing is, if we act as change agents to avert catastrophe and succeed, others will laugh at us, pointing out that the catastrophe never happened. It could very well be that the change agents prevented it.
In Malawi, the rate of deforestation is increasing. There are many parts of the country where there are very little trees. The reason that the deforestation is happening is that people use firewood to cook, to heat water, and for whatever purposes fuel is needed. The widespread deforestation is so bad that government has banned the sale of charcoal.
However, in the face of an alternative, the ban has no teeth, and people continue to use charcoal or firewood to cook. What else can they do? There is no electricity where they live, hooking up solar panels is too expensive, too complicated, and would probably not provide enough electricity to power a stove.
Eventually, Malawi will run out of trees. What then? There is a lot of talk but no action. We’re heading straight for the cliff, and we’re not even applying the brakes. I shudder to think what will happen to the family I stayed with in the village when the wood runs out.
In Malawi, the rate of deforestation is increasing. There are many parts of the country where there are very little trees. The reason that the deforestation is happening is that people use firewood to cook, to heat water, and for whatever purposes fuel is needed. The widespread deforestation is so bad that government has banned the sale of charcoal.
However, in the face of an alternative, the ban has no teeth, and people continue to use charcoal or firewood to cook. What else can they do? There is no electricity where they live, hooking up solar panels is too expensive, too complicated, and would probably not provide enough electricity to power a stove.
Eventually, Malawi will run out of trees. What then? There is a lot of talk but no action. We’re heading straight for the cliff, and we’re not even applying the brakes. I shudder to think what will happen to the family I stayed with in the village when the wood runs out.
Friday, October 17, 2008
A call to arms
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the global credit crisis. About Malawi. About food production. About energy. About change.
Malawi is a mono-crop culture. They grow maize, and they grow a lot of it. This becomes a problem because there is no crop rotation and no fallow. There is only one rainy season and very little irrigation. When you have a small plot that you need to feed your family with, and you live in a staple-food culture (nsima, made from maize), well, it’s obvious what you are going to plant. The government has tried to fix this situation by subsidizing fertilizer, and in reality, its working. Maize yields are up this year and it is unlikely that there will be a food shortage. However, a problem may exist because much of this fertilizer is petro-chemical based, i.e. it comes from oil. With the market tightening for oil, it is likely that we will be seeing farmers’ dependence on fertilizer as a constraint to long term growth. A bag of fertilizer costs around MK9000 per 50 kg bag. (When subsidized, farmers can buy it for MK500). Ten years ago, it cost MK6500 per ton. In the long term, farmers may be fighting a losing battle. So, while I understand the rationale behind subsidizing fertilizer (people need to eat), I am also concerned that the problem is being avoided, being pushed into the future.
We, in the West, are not so different in our thinking. This credit crisis has shown how fragile our economy is. In reality, it likely points out how our growth rates over the past years have been largely fraudulent. We have gotten by on borrowing and consuming and borrowing rather than producing. We’re trying to fix this with changes in taxes, tweaks to borrowing rules, changes to regulation and corporate bailouts. Perhaps we’re doing the same that Malawi is doing. Look at the environment. We continue to pollute, continue to drive large vehicles, live in large houses, and degrade the environment. Most of us are environmentalists until it encroaches on our comforts, which we somehow believe we deserve. We appear to be pushing our problems into the future rather than facing them. We are going to need a dramatic shift in the way we live.
Which brings me to this idea. I was reading a document written by Donella Meadows on Leverage Points, where to push to affect change. Number 12 on her list is constants, parameters numbers (such as subsidies, taxes, standards). Tweaking these, she argues, are the least dramatic ways of producing change. She says that changing parameters can be important in the short-term, but rarely change people’s behaviour. Number 1 and 2 on her list deal with paradigms, and creating paradigm shifts. Changing the way people behave or think about things is bound to have dramatic effects.
Perhaps, in Canada, we need to have a paradigm shift. We need to rethink about how we want our economy to work, about how we want our Canada to work. Perhaps in Malawi, Malawians need to rethink about maize as a staple food. Perhaps there needs to be no staple food. Or irrigation needs to be increased, so that in the current ‘dry’ season, nitrogen-fixing crops can be planted (maize is nitrogen-consuming) and thus better maintain soil quality without the use of fertilizer.
I’m no expert on farming or planting, so perhaps my words shouldn’t be taken so seriously, and I know I’m severely simplifying the problem.
But I think, regardless of where we are and what we’re doing, we need to be open to change so that we take into consideration both the current and future effects of our behaviour. Who knows, if future generations will look back on us and admire our ingenuity, or scoff and wonder at our stupidity?
Change will not come easy, but if this is a call to arms, discipline is necessary.
Malawi is a mono-crop culture. They grow maize, and they grow a lot of it. This becomes a problem because there is no crop rotation and no fallow. There is only one rainy season and very little irrigation. When you have a small plot that you need to feed your family with, and you live in a staple-food culture (nsima, made from maize), well, it’s obvious what you are going to plant. The government has tried to fix this situation by subsidizing fertilizer, and in reality, its working. Maize yields are up this year and it is unlikely that there will be a food shortage. However, a problem may exist because much of this fertilizer is petro-chemical based, i.e. it comes from oil. With the market tightening for oil, it is likely that we will be seeing farmers’ dependence on fertilizer as a constraint to long term growth. A bag of fertilizer costs around MK9000 per 50 kg bag. (When subsidized, farmers can buy it for MK500). Ten years ago, it cost MK6500 per ton. In the long term, farmers may be fighting a losing battle. So, while I understand the rationale behind subsidizing fertilizer (people need to eat), I am also concerned that the problem is being avoided, being pushed into the future.
We, in the West, are not so different in our thinking. This credit crisis has shown how fragile our economy is. In reality, it likely points out how our growth rates over the past years have been largely fraudulent. We have gotten by on borrowing and consuming and borrowing rather than producing. We’re trying to fix this with changes in taxes, tweaks to borrowing rules, changes to regulation and corporate bailouts. Perhaps we’re doing the same that Malawi is doing. Look at the environment. We continue to pollute, continue to drive large vehicles, live in large houses, and degrade the environment. Most of us are environmentalists until it encroaches on our comforts, which we somehow believe we deserve. We appear to be pushing our problems into the future rather than facing them. We are going to need a dramatic shift in the way we live.
Which brings me to this idea. I was reading a document written by Donella Meadows on Leverage Points, where to push to affect change. Number 12 on her list is constants, parameters numbers (such as subsidies, taxes, standards). Tweaking these, she argues, are the least dramatic ways of producing change. She says that changing parameters can be important in the short-term, but rarely change people’s behaviour. Number 1 and 2 on her list deal with paradigms, and creating paradigm shifts. Changing the way people behave or think about things is bound to have dramatic effects.
Perhaps, in Canada, we need to have a paradigm shift. We need to rethink about how we want our economy to work, about how we want our Canada to work. Perhaps in Malawi, Malawians need to rethink about maize as a staple food. Perhaps there needs to be no staple food. Or irrigation needs to be increased, so that in the current ‘dry’ season, nitrogen-fixing crops can be planted (maize is nitrogen-consuming) and thus better maintain soil quality without the use of fertilizer.
I’m no expert on farming or planting, so perhaps my words shouldn’t be taken so seriously, and I know I’m severely simplifying the problem.
But I think, regardless of where we are and what we’re doing, we need to be open to change so that we take into consideration both the current and future effects of our behaviour. Who knows, if future generations will look back on us and admire our ingenuity, or scoff and wonder at our stupidity?
Change will not come easy, but if this is a call to arms, discipline is necessary.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Vacation
Yesterday, was a day off, to celebrate Eid, a Muslim holiday after Ramadan. I didn't have much to do so I just hung out around Lilongwe, and eventually met up with some other Canuck's at Ali Baba's for some tasty treats. The rest of the crew had Pizza while enjoyed some chicken kebab and fries. Not what you expected in Sub-Saharan Africa, now was it, but its there. Its amazing the difference between the city and the village. Life can be weird at times.
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