Political Economy of Malawi and Its Effects on the Economic Performance - Research Paper Example

Political economy of Malawi and its effects on the economic performance Political economy of Malawi and its effects on the economic performance 0 I. Literature review 3 1. Condition & financial aids 3 2. Poverty 6 3. Property rights 7 4. Economy 9 5. Labor conditions 10 6. Judicial system 11 7. Corruption in the Government 11 8. Economic policy 13 9. Trade and trade partners 13 II. Interview 15 1. Question 1 : what is the health facility in your area ? 15 2. Question 2 : Is there any school in your area ? 16 3. Question 3 : what are your earnings daily? 16 4. Question 4 : what is the level of Government support to you and your family? 17 5. Question 5 : are you the sole earning member of the family? 17 6. Question 6 : is there freedom for the labor agitation in the country? 18 7. Question 7 : can you approach the judicial system of the Government freely? 18 8. Question 8 : what is the level of crime and violence in your locality? 18 9. Question 9 : what crops do you grow? 19 10. Question 10 : does the Government facilitate the export of their crops? 20 III. Conclusion 21 IV. References 22 17. Hweidi, O.(n.d.). THE STATE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BOTSWANA AND MAURITIUS WITH ANGOLA, MALAWI AND ZAMBIA. African Studies Quarterly. Available at: http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v5/v5i1a2.htm (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 24 Introduction Malawi was known as Nyasaland and was inhibited by the Bantu tribes. Agriculture was the main occupation of the tribes and they traded the surplus with the Portuguese merchants. The expedition of Livingstone and his accounts brought the Scottish missionaries to the country and they looked to change the forms of agriculture in the country. The colonial rule descended in the country and the colonialists introduced various forms of taxation and reforms to collect money from the state. In the 1950s the Nyasaland African Congress was formed which revolted against the colonial rule. The colonials sensing the need to hand over the rule to the people of the country organized an election. The election was won by Kamusu Banda who played a pivotal role in the independence of the country. The reign of Banda started from the year 1964 when the Malawi came into being by declaring independence from Rhodesia. Banda’s rule was denounced by many ministers of the cabinet and they resigned from their posts. However, the popularity of Banda was on the rise and the major portion of the country supported him. Banda affirmed himself as the “president for life” and for many years no elections took place in the country. Banda had an amazing control on the state of affairs of the country and denounced any minister who revolted against his rule. Many of the ministers were put into jails. Banda was instrumental in the development of the trade and commerce activities of the country and he allowed FDIs to flow into the country from Britain, Taiwan and the USA. In the 1980s the country for the first time experienced surplus in the balance of payments. However, there were widespread agitations against the rule of Banda and his activities in suppressing the opposition parties. In the 1990s he was forced to organize a general election in the country and he lost. For the first time in the history of its democracy, Malawi experienced the presence of more than one party in the political sphere. His successor was Bakili Muluzi who tried to free the country of all the oppressions that was the part of the rule of Banda. However, the new rule was accused of corruption. Malawi has been plagued by the health related problems and poverty. The main occupation of the country is agriculture, which is dependent on the nature. The agriculture has been pressurized by the growth in population. The international economic bodies and the foreign countries have urged the Government to open the economy of the country and the Government has made a conscious effort to free the economy. Many companies in the country were privatized and that helped to develop the economy. The present president of the country is Bingu Wa Mutharika who has been an economist. The present condition of Malawi depicts a sorry state of affairs, as many people die every year because of Aids. The agriculture of the country is also dependent on nature and the situation is further aggravated as the country experiences the extreme conditions of nature. This results in millions of dollars of aids to the sector every year that pressurize the economy of the country. (Malawi country profile, 10th March, 2010; Malawi History, n.d.) The paper deals in the political economy of the country and the effect it has on the economic performance of the country. The paper will review the literature on the topic and a draft will be drawn out for the methods of the research. The paper will relate to the findings and see if it coincides with the review of the literature. I. Literature review 1. Condition & financial aids The Malawi is landlocked and it is very densely populated. Malawi is poor and ravaged by the health related problems and the economy of the country is underdeveloped. Its economy is dependent on agriculture and it forms 90% of the exports. Most of the population lives in the rural areas. The most important crop in the country is the tobacco and it is one of the main earners for Malawi. However it is a natural phenomenon for the country to suffer because of the drought or the excessive rainfall. As a result, Malawi has to depend on the financial aids form the International bodies like the IMF and the World Bank. The new Government has put into some practices to develop its economic conditions. In 2006, Malawi gained approval for the entrance into the “Heavily Indebted Poor Countries” (HIPC) program. In 2007, the country gained membership of the “Millennium Challenge Corporation.” These activities were the results of the operations of the new Government. In addition to the agriculture and the trade related problems, the economy also suffers due to the health related problems. Every year, millions of people die because of Aids and other related diseases. The Government had a setback in 2009, when there was a dearth of the foreign currencies. This reduced the ability of the Malawian Government to pay for the imports and the investments from the other countries decreased. The investments in the country decreased by 23% in 2009. The main reasons for the fall in the investments can be attributed to the underdeveloped infrastructure like the lack of transport, power shortages, water shortages etc. This has been detrimental for the development of the industries. (Malawi Economy 2010, 15th January, 2010) The country is heavily dependent on the activities of the foreign bodies and the organizations, which help them to attain the economic stability. The HIPC helped them to get rid of a major portion of the debt to the foreign market. The Malawian government was relieved of the debt that allowed them to focus on the development activities of the state. The real GDP of the country has been on the rise for the last few years. The inflation has been kept under control. The inflation rate has been hovering around the 10% mark in the year 2007 which decreased to 8.7% in 2008. Therefore, they did well in tackling the menace of inflation. Countries like the USA , Canada, Germany, Japan etc donate in the development activities of the country and this has spurred the development of the country to some extent. (Economy overview, 15th January, 2010) Malawi is considered to be one of the most underdeveloped and the poorest countries of the world. The GDP, Human Poverty Index (HPI) subscribes to the fact. The country depends to a large extent on the donations and the financial assistance by the foreign countries and the foreign institutions. In the context of the conditions in the country the cash transfer schemes have become important. One of the most prevalent and the developed schemes in the country in the present day is the Mchinji Cash Transfer Scheme (MCTS). The cash transfer schemes are aimed at the development of the neglected part of the society with the financial assistance. The MCTS was aimed at providing cash assistance to the development of the poor in the country. The people of the country are very poor and a large portion of the population lies under the poverty line. Before the start of the scheme, a research stated that 52.4% of the population were below the poverty line. The moderately poor group was the category where the family had a source of income or a member of the family had the ability to be engaged in the productive activities. The poverty line was set in the country at $ 0.3 per day per person. For the ultra poor, the limit was further decreased to 0.2. The ultra poor group had no person with the ability to work and there were no one in the vicinity of the family earning in the economy. Out of the group that lied below the poverty line, 30% were moderately poor. The remaining 22% were ultra poor. The preferences of the cash transfer program depended on the divisions of the poor and the program directed the major portion of the activities to the ultra poor. The moderately poor of the country needed various programs facilitating the employment opportunities of the group. The ultra poor had to be supported financially and socially to bring them into the mainstreams of the economy. The main aim of the program was to develop the conditions of the people in the society by providing them the means for earning money in the economy. The intensity of the program was most visible in the group of the ultra poor and they were the most benefited segment in the program. A research conducted in 2007 shows that the program was successful in implementing in strategies and bringing a large portion of the poor into the mainstream economy. As a result, the poverty in the country reduced. The poor population in the country in 2007 was 40% which was a lot lesser than that of 2005.; Out of the 40%, 25% were moderately poor and the remaining 15% were ultra poor. The program, which was started in 2005 by UNICEF and by the support of the Government, was successful in the development of the economy to some extent. The program shows that the country is dependent on the financial aids from the international bodies and the organizations for the development of the economy. (Miller & Tsoka, n.d.; Chinsinga, July, 2009) 2. Poverty As we have said one of the most disturbing concerns for the Government of the country is the prevalence of poverty in the state. The “Malawi poverty reduction strategy” (MPRS) was formulated for the development of the poor. However, what followed can be termed as deficiency in the financial management of the public budget. The budgets of a Government are aimed at developing the economic conditions. However, in the case of Malawi the budget did not fulfill the agendas of the MPRS and its economy was not developed. The budget process of the country involves both formal and informal parties who may show their interest in the process. The formal parties are the Government and the economic planning body. The informal bodies are the private bodies of the economy like the business organizations. The analysis of the budgets from the date of the inception of the democracy points out that the tools of the economic development have been unsuccessful in its quest. The budget process does not give a fair account of the economic process and it fails to give a clear account of the income and the distribution of money. The formal and the informal parties of the budget are well aware of the situation. However, there have been no intention on the part of the formal and the informal parties to develop the process of the budgetary reforms. In the process of the budget, the formal and the informal bodies communicate at every stage to underline their preferences. In the end, the budget does not subscribe to the development of the economy. Rather, the informal and the powerful parties of the economy manoeuvre the budget to suit their needs. (The political economy of the budget in Malawi, n.d.) 3. Property rights The economic market of Malawi has changed from being a market driven by the public sector to a market driven by the private sector. It is indispensible for the country in order to attract private investment local and international. Malawi has progressed in these sectors by protecting property rights. We can make a link here with our course. Indeed, as we have learned, the development of a private sector is very important for a favourable economic growth, and this can only be reached with a good protection of the property rights. They have done this by improving access to land, work and capital through saving shareholders rights and asking managers and board of directors for private organizations to publish their financial statements, and by privatizing their firms. Private organizations also have to make sure their financial statements meet international trade guidelines. Even if there are politics, rules, regulations and institutions that exist to handle these topics, the weaknesses of the juridical system, combined with political, social and cultural obstacles, and insufficiency of the institutional capacity have limited the progress in these areas. The Malawi will need time before being able to manage and understand the divers and subtle elements necessary to protect efficiently property rights. Free access to land and property rights are recognized in the Malawian constitution and laws. Eviction by the state in the public interest is accepted with certain conditions which are clearly specified and regulated, and the government has to fairly compensate the land owners. The difficulty of this situation is getting the government to respect their obligations. A great part of the population is alliterated and do not know their rights. And in addition to this, appealing against the government is very time and money worthy without any guaranty of success. Land for private use is a delicate subject and the Malawian government has decided to take measures to restrict access to land especially for foreigners. The Malawian parliament is trying to pass a law which restricts access to land including commercial land for foreigners. The reason for this law is because the workforce and the lands are really cheap; therefore it attract foreign entrepreneurs; to tackle with this problem, the Malawian government is trying to redistribute the land to the locals to encourage growth in local entrepreneurs. The downside of this is that it might discourage foreign investment and a little economy like the Malawian needs those. (Economic Commission for Africa) The issues about the protection of the property rights are even worse for the malawian women. Indeed, the women are generally recognized as the backward classes. The conditions of the women have been further complicated in their position in the property rights. There is a practice of “property grabbing” in the country, where after the death of the husband, the women have no rights to the property. The property is taken by the family members. This can be detrimental to the conditions of women as the country is ravaged by the health related problems and most of the people die of Aids. The property rights of the women in the society are dependent on the customs rather than on the laws. The condition is seen in the rural areas of Malawi more often and most of the widowed women in these areas are in deplorable conditions. (Raising awareness of Malawian rights, n.d.) 4. Economy The Government of Malawi from the days of inception has been working for the development of the economy. The days after the independence were good for the economy. The Government under Banda gave priority to the agriculture and increased the earnings through exports of the crops like tobacco. The Government of the country actively participated in the economy of the country and there was balanced industrialization by the participation of the private and the public enterprises. The labour costs of the country were kept in check and this influenced the investment of the foreign countries in the development of the economy. The Government encouraged the investment of the foreign countries to enter into joint ventures with the local businesses. In the 1970s the country for the first time, faced an economic crisis with the decrease in the exports. The Government was not able to control the natural disasters like drought and rainfall. Therefore, it had to depend on the financial assistance from the foreign countries and the foreign companies. The Government of the country did not do enough to support the development of the agriculture in Malawi. Therefore, the involvement of the Government in the economy of the country and the lack of support to the industries were detrimental in the development in the economy. (Hweidi, n.d.) 5. Labor conditions The labour conditions in the country depend on the development of the education in the country. The education of the country has not developed to the desired extent. Out of the working population, most are unskilled labours. In the pool of the prospective workers and employees, there is a dearth of skilled and the unskilled labours. The University of Malawi has been responsible for the development of education in the country and the institution has been awarding bachelor degrees in various fields of accountancy, law, engineering etc. However, the level of education in the rural areas has not been satisfactory. The labour system of the country became developed and institutionalized with the enactment of the labour relations’ act in 1997. The labour relations’ act of the country gave the power to the workers to pose a strike and lockouts in the companies if there are any dissatisfaction in the work of the management. The lockouts are the last retort when the negotiations with the management have failed. The labour can form trade unions and thus the workers of the country found a voice to put up their concerns and arguments. The labour condition of the country has improved after the enactment of the Act as they have more power in dealing with the management of the company. However, the awareness of people in Malawi has been low and most of the companies in the country do not have a trade union. There are only 29 trade unions up to the present day. The situation in the case of the central unions is more pathetic as less number of people is registered in the unions. However, the condition of the labour in the country is being developed and there has been a substantial effort made by the management of the company to improve the labour relations. The labours are treated well in the companies and they can argue their case with the management. This has prompted the high performance of the employees. (2009 Investment climate statement, February, 2009) 6. Judicial system The judicial system of Malawi has been on a solid footing from the days of its independence from the colonial rule. The judicial system of Malawi is based on two systems of the other countries. The first of the system is based on the judicial system of the United Kingdom where the local courts take into account the grievances of the people in the region. The system in this structure is structured and layered with the local courts being the basic court of the law. They are monitored by the higher courts like the High courts and the Supreme courts. Thus system of judicial practice has evolved from the colonial rule and was in existence at the time of the colonial rule. The second system developed in 1969 when the President assumed the power to rule according to the traditional courts of Africa. In 1993, the judicial system of the country was transformed and the power of the local and the national courts of the law. Since then, the country has been moving towards a more developed judicial system and it has been suggested that the cases are to be attended by a group of educated and independent judges. (Malawi: judicial system, n.d.) 7. Corruption in the Government There has been a widespread view about the corruption in the country. From the above paragraphs, it has been seen that the Government has been irresponsible in the management of the finance in the economy. The Government has been accused for the underdevelopment of the economy in the country. The new Government has promised to show no tolerance to the corrupt practices of the country. However, the views of the international agencies have not altered due to the statement of the President. The country had been a frontrunner for the race of corruption in the world economy. The Transparency International, the main body in the international arena measuring the corruption level in the different countries of the world has not made good remarks about the country. In 2004, before the ascendance of the new President and his vow to clean up the Government has put the country in a better place in the global corruption map. However, after a period of three years of the rule, the country had dropped to 118 in the global chart, which shows that the condition has depleted after the election of the new Government. The corruption is naturally in the Government sector as till this day, the Government has been the biggest employer of the country. The anti corruption body of Malawi has been deemed as a political organisation in the midst of the political happenings and the operations of the body has not been up to the mark. The corruption has been the biggest reason for the poverty and the underdevelopment of the country. The situation in the country sees a big gap between the rich and the poor and most of the population of the country lives below the sum of $0.2 per day, which is lesser than the global standards. The corruption does not augur well for the Government as the donations and the funding from the global bodies meet most of the financial obligations of the country. Increased corruption has seen the international bodies cancelling the donations to the country and in the past, the IMF has suspended money transfers to the country. The private industries and the companies of the country use the political power in relation to getting the financial benefits and they benefit from the activities of the economy. This results in the further corruption in the country. (Malawi: corruption seen as worsening, n.d.) 8. Economic policy The economic policy is aimed at developing the economic condition of the country. The economic commission under the Government of the country forms the economic policy for the development of the economic conditions. A cabinet of 46 members heads the Government of the country. The members of the cabinet are voted for a span of five years and they are accountable for the development of the country. The economic policies of the country are prepared by the cabinet to help in the development of the economy and this includes the development of the trade and commerce and the stability of the economy. The main aim of the economic reform of the country is to develop the conditions of the poor and the development of trade and commerce. 9. Trade and trade partners The Malawian economy and more specifically their exportations rely on the agricultural products. After the setting up of the Government in the 1960s their main aim was the development of the agriculture. The main export products have been Tobacco and Tea. The tobacco is of two categories. They are the stemmed and the unstemmed varieties. The other products that are major export products are the sugarcane, cotton, groundnuts, maize and the textile products. Their exportations show that the economy is fully dependent on the agricultural products. The development in the farming of the cash crops like tea and the tobacco has been influential in the development of the economy. The exports of the country have been on the rise after the formation of the Government and the detachment from the colonial rule. The development of the foreign relations with the other countries of the world has been the major source of development in the recent years. Malawi reached a trade agreement with Zimbabwe and South Africa to allow duty free exports to the countries. This has been influential in the growth of trade and commerce. The improvement of relation with Mozambique has given the opportunity to Malawi to access the sea routes of the Indian Ocean, which have raised their exports. Malawi has been the member of the African body of COMESA, which is the organization of various countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya etc. The export with the countries in COMESA has been facilitated by the trade agreements between them. Other than the COMESA, Malawi is involved in the export of the goods to other countries like the USA, Australia, South Africa, Mozambique, Russia etc. However, the major portion of the exports of Malawi goes to the EU. Malawi imports a lot of goods like the oil, motor vehicles, artillery etc. The country is involved in the import activities with a lot of the countries like China, India, USA, Mozambique, countries form the COMESA, EU etc. However, the major portion of the imports comes from South Africa. (Malawi Regional Perspectives, 2008) II. Interview This part will be a useful technique in this paper as it will be helpful for the direct interaction with the affected parties in the Malawi. The aim of this interview is to put in contrast our theoretic data with what is concretely happening in the country. For the interviews of the parties, a specific set of questionnaire has to be prepared and the findings are to be recorded. For the purpose of the paper, interviews will be conducted with two citizens of the country in order to find out if the Government’s policies have a concrete impact on them. The questionnaire consists mainly of ten close-ended questions. The occupation of the two citizens is agriculture and they live in the rural areas of Bawala. This region is renowned for the development that took place with the help of the UNICEF. The findings of the interviews are analysed as follow: 1. Question 1 : what is the health facility in your area ? Health center Hospital Nursing Homes The chart shows that one person told that there was a health center and the other person told there was a hospital in the area. The health facilities in the area are good. 2. Question 2 : Is there any school in your area ? Is there any school in your area? Yes No There were education facilities in the area approved by both the interviewees 3. Question 3 : what are your earnings daily? < 27 MK 27-47 MK 47-70 MK 100 MK > 100 MK The income level of the two persons is shown in the chart. One of them earns less than 47 MK, which subscribes him to be moderately poor while the other one is financially stable. 4. Question 4 : what is the level of Government support to you and your family? Financial assistance Support for employment Training and development Subsidy in the products The 1st person received these assistances from the Government, which is understandable as he was moderately poor. The 2nd person did not receive any of these as he is in a higher bracket. 5. Question 5 : are you the sole earning member of the family? Yes No Both the persons replied that they are the sole earning members of the family. Their families were small. The 1st person had two children and the 2nd person had one children. 6. Question 6 : is there freedom for the labor agitation in the country? Yes No For both them there was freedom in viewing their agitation against the Government in the country. The persons were involved in the movement for the development of the region against the Government officials. 7. Question 7 : can you approach the judicial system of the Government freely? Can you approach the judicial system of the Government freely? Yes No Both the persons reported that they could approach the local courts of the area, which had been constructed after that development activities of the region have started. 8. Question 8 : what is the level of crime and violence in your locality? < 1 crime per day 1 crime per day 1-3 crime per day >3 crimes per day The crime rates have been a major problem in the area and both the persons subscribe to the view. The crime rates of the region point out that the development of the region has not been completed and much more work has to be done. The crime rates of the region do not depend only on the economy of the region but it is one of the most determinant factors for the growth of crime. 9. Question 9 : what crops do you grow? What crops do you grow? Tobacco Tea Cotton Sugarcane Others Both the persons cultivated tobacco, which is quite evident as it is the most important cash crop and therefore, the chances of earning are more for them. 10. Question 10 : does the Government facilitate the export of their crops? Yes No Both the persons replied that they received assistance from the Government for the export of the production. The answers from the questionnaire tell us that the Government in alliance with Unicef did a good job in the region in the development of the economy and the social conditions of the area. The only problem is the crime rate of the area, which points out that more work has to be done in the development of the economy of the region. The health and the educational facilities were improved and measures were taken in the development of the economic conditions. III. Conclusion Malawi is one of the most economically backward countries of the world. The economy of the country is not in a good condition and the country has to depend on the financial aids from the international countries and the organizations. The corruption level in the Government is rampant and the health condition is poor. Every year, thousands of people die from Aids. The principle occupation of the country is agriculture and the country depends on agriculture for the development of economy. The country is also harmed by the political turmoil. There has been a widespread view that the Government of the country is not doing enough for the growth in the economy. However, in the primary and the secondary research, we find that the Government is doing its bit for the development of the economy. With the help of the financial aid from the international organizations like IMF and World Bank, the Government is on a development phase. The work needs to be carried on and the country will soon recover from the clutches of poverty. IV. References 1. Malawi country profile. (10th March, 2010). BBC News. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1068913.stm (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 2. Malawi History. (n.d.). Available at: http://www.tanzaniaodyssey.com/www.africanet.com/africanet/country/malawi/history.htm (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 3. Malawi Economy 2010. (15th January, 2010). Countries of the World. Available at: http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/malawi/malawi_economy.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 4. The political economy of the budget in Malawi. (n.d.). CMI. Available at: http://www.cmi.no/research/project/?610=the-political-economy-of-the-budget-in-malawi (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 5. Quantitative research. (n.d.). Business dictionary. Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/quantitative-research.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 6. Qualitative research. (n.d.). Investor words.com. Available at: http://www.investorwords.com/3993/qualitative_research.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 7. secondary market research. (n.d.). Entrepreneur. Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/term/82616.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 8. What is primary research. (n.d.). Available at: http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=802 (Accessed on 28th March, 2010) 9. Methodology. (n.d.). Answerec.om. Available at: http://www.answers.com/topic/methodology (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 10. Miller. C and Tsoka,M. (n.d.). Evaluating the Mchinji Social cash transfer pilot. Available at: http://www.childresearchpolicy.org/images/REvised_Presentation_Evaluating_the_Mchinji_Social_Cash_Transfer_Pilot_2_July_07.pdf (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 11. Malawi:corruption seen as worsening. (n.d.) IRIN. Available at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74577 (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 12. Malawi: judicial system. (n.d.). Encyclopedia of nations. Available at: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Malawi-JUDICIAL-SYSTEM.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 13. Chinsinga, B.(July, 2009). Political economy of cash transfers in Malawi. Overseas Development institute. Available at: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/4695.pdf (Accessed on 19th April, 2010). 14. Malawi Regional Perspectives. (2008). Comesa. Available at: http://about.comesa.int/attachments/024_Malawi_country_profile.pdf (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 15. 2009 Investment climate statement. (February, 2009). US Department of State. Available at: http://www.state.gov/e/eeb/rls/othr/ics/2009/117353.htm (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 16. Characteristics of the areas to be studied: Malawi's rural areas and needs. (n.d.). Available at: http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food2/UIN08E/uin08e15.htm (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 17. Hweidi, O.(n.d.). THE STATE AND DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BOTSWANA AND MAURITIUS WITH ANGOLA, MALAWI AND ZAMBIA. African Studies Quarterly. Available at: http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v5/v5i1a2.htm (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 18. Malawi Inflation rate. (n.d.). Index Mundi. Available at: http://www.indexmundi.com/malawi/inflation_rate_%28consumer_prices%29.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 19. Economy overview. (15th January, 2010). Countries of the World. Available at: http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/malawi/malawi_economy.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) 20. Raising awareness of Malawian rights. (n.d.). USAID. Available at: http://www.usaid.gov/stories/malawi/ss_malawi_law.html (Accessed on 19th April, 2010) Read More