Repwft No. 86121MA

Women and Development in Malawi:Constraints'and Actions

August 27, 1"1

Population arcl Human Resoutces D}ivisionSouthern Africa Departmnent 8t}

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................... ....................... i-iv

I. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT .............................. 1

II. CONSTRAINTS WOMEN FACE .................................. 3

Part A: Constraints on Income EarninB Capacity .... ..... 3Women in the Small-Farm Sector ..... ................ 3Women in Agricultural Employment ..... .............. 11Women in Other Formal Employment ..... .............. 13Women in the Informal Sector ....................... 16

Part B: Issues in Human Resource Development .... ....... 17Nutrition, Health and Fertility ..... ............... 17Education and Training ............................. 20

III. EXISTING PROGRAMS AND NEXT STEPS ....................... 24Macroeconomic Policies ............................. 25Agriculture ........................................ 25Credit and Savings ................................. 270ff-Farm Income Generating Activities .... .......... 29Labor-Relieving Programs ........................... 31Wage Employment .................................... 34The Informal Sector ................................ 34Nutrition and Food Availability ..... ............... 35Maternal Health and Child Spacing ..... ............. 36Education and Training ............................. 37Institutional Arrangements for WID ..... ............ 39WID Information Base ............................... 41

TABLES2.1: Percentage of Female Headed Households (FHH) by

Marital Status and Area, 1980/81 ..... .............. 52.2: Household Size and Composition, Cultivated Land, Harvests,

and Per Capita Income, by Household Head Categories 52.3: Distribution by Cultivated Area, by Sex of

Household Head, 1980-81 ............................ 62.4: Percentage of Households by Distance to Amenities

by Agriculture Development Division .... ............ 7

This report was written by Joy de Beyer (Economist, AF6PH) with timely helpfrom Neeta Sirur (AF6 WID Coordinator). Ayse Kudat (WID specialist) agreedmid-mission to broaden her terms of reference for the Malawi CEM, and wrotea comprehensive background paper. Boyd Gilman (Consultant) prepared theAnnotated Bibliography and a background paper. Roger Grawe (AF6 LeadEconomist), Kathie Krumm (Malawi Country Economist) and Katrine Saito(PHRWD) provided helpful comments and suggestions. Merced Swan providedefficient and willing wordprocessing support.

This document has a restricted distribution and may be used by recipients only in the performanceof their official duties. Its contents may not otherwise be disclosed without World Bank authorization.

Page No.

2.5: Farmer Participation in Agricultural Seasonal Credit byGender, 1982/83 - 1988189 .000-40* ... ..... * ......... 9

2.6: Average Daily Pay (Tambala) for Women and Men inTen Flue-Cured Tobacco Estates in KasungaDistrict, 1984 ...................................... 12

2.7: Ganyu Labor Days and Other Off-farm Working Days in 1989Kawinga Sample of Rural Households .................. 13

2.8: Numbers and Percentage of Women Formal Sector WageEmployees by Subsector, 1971, 1976, 1983 and 1984 ... 13

2.9: Employment by Gender and Changes in Average Earnings inManufacturing, 1982-1984 ............ ................. 14

2.10: Percent of Households Depleting Food Stocks byRegion, Area Under Cultivation and Time ofYear 'or 1980/81 ....................... ........................ 17

2.11: Females as a Percentage of Total Enrollment, SelectedYears 1980-1987 ..... ............................... ..... 20

2.12: Mean Primary School Leaving Examination Results,by Subject and Gender, 1987 .......................... 21

ANNEXES

I Statistical Annex .............. ..... 43-46Table ls Selected Population Densities in Sub-Saharan AfricaTable 2: Women Working on Their Own Holdings, 1966 and 1977Table 3: ADD Agricultural Seasonal Credit by Gender,

1986/87-1988/89Table 4: Unemployment Rates by Gender, Education,

and Urban/Rural, 1977Table 5: Occupational Patterns of Men and Women (1977)Table 6: Comparative Percentage of Males and Females in Each

Occupational Category (1977)Malawi Daily Times Report on Workshop

II Existing Women's Programs/Project Activities in Malawi .... 47-53

III Organizational Charts of the National Commissionon Women in Development (Malawi) ........................ 54-55

IV Annotated Bibliography ................................... 56-70

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Socio-economic Context Most Malawian women live in rural areas.where they are preoccupied with growing enough food for their families in asituation of increasing land pressure and widespread poverty (per capitaincome is US$ 160). On average, women bear 7.6 children, one quarter ofwhom die before age 5. Over 50? of children under 5 years aremalnourished. Social indicators have shown enormous improvement sinceindependence but remain poor even compared with other low-income Africancountries. Life expectancy at birth is 47 years, and only 43X of theprimary school age group are in school. Fewer than 20 percent of women areliterate, and although most girls enter school, very high dropout rates anda very small secondary school system mean that only about 3 percent ofgirls reach secondary school. Many women must cope alone: nearly 30X ofrural households are headed by women, and the husbands of many othersmigrate within the country looking for employment.

2. Employment opportunities are limited, and most people (852 of thelabor force) are subsistence smallholder farmers. Soils are moderatelyfertile, water resources are fairly good, and the climate is favorable tocrop production. However, there have been drought and flooding in recentyears, and the high population growth of 3.5? is increasing population/landdensity, which already is among the highest in Africa at 85 persons per sqkm. The non-agricultural formal sector employs about 7? of the laborforce, 5.5? are wage employees on agricultural estates (tobacco, tea andsugar), and an estimated 3? are engaged full-time in informal sectoractivities. Only about 142 of formal sector workers are women, and theyare concentrated in a narrow range of generally lower-paying jobs.

3. Since 1980, Malawi has had to contend with adverse terms of trademovements, and the disruption of external transport routes due to theinstability in Mozambique. Government has responded with a broad-basedstructural adjustment program aimed at macroeconomic stability and growth.Since the country is landlocked, has a small industrial sector and no knownsubstantial mineral resources, sustainable growth will depend crucially onproductivity increases in smallholder agriculture and on developing humanresources. Women constitute more than half of Malawi's human resources,and they have a critical impact on children's development and the health ofthe whole family. They predominate among smallholder farmers. Accordingto the 1977 census, nearly 702 of all full-time farmers (i.e., working 10-12 months each year on their holdings) were women. Women also accountedfor nearly 25? of part-time smallholder farmers. Achievement ofsustainable growth will, therefore, depend to a large extent on designingand implementing agriculture and human resource development programs whichare adequately targeted to women.

4. Constraints Women Face Against this background, emphasisthroughout this paper has been placed on analyzing the situation of theroughly 90 percent of Malawian women living in rural areas, most of whomare in the smallholder sector, struggling to increase incomes and care fortheir families in a situation of declining agricultural productivity.Population pressure is bringing more marginal land under cultivation andforcing continuous cropping. This in turn has led to depleting soilfertility in a situation of rising fertilizer prices. These factors,together with continued low levels of agricultural technology are primarilyresponsible for declines in yields of smallholders (men and women). Womenface additional obstacles to maintaining or enhancing farm productivity(and thus incomes):

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(i) A major issue faced by the 302 of rural families headed by singlewomen or women whose husbands visited less than once a month is seasonallabor shortage. A recent study found that female-headed households(FHHs) had lower yields and incomes per capita than male-headedhouseholds, except for the minority of women whose husbands were workingin the South African mines. Another factor limiting the labor women candevote to farming and other income-producing tasks is their heavy burdenof household and child-care tasks and frequent childbearing. Women walkan average of 2-8 km to fetch water and firewood, headloading it hometakes considerable time and energy that could otherwise have been spenton farm-work. A small time-use study in rural Malawi found that womenworked an average of 12 hours per day (including farm and non-farmactivities) compared to men's 6-hour workday.

(ii) In addition, the productivity of women farmers' labor is generallylower due to their limited access to agricultural services, inputs andcredit, making it less likely that they will adopt high-yieldingpackages and other agricultural innovations. Bypassing women farmershas high efficiency costs. It has been unintentional, in part due tothe emphases and structure of the extension service. The main factorsare: (a) the gender composition of extension officers, 90 percent ofwhom are men, who for cultural reasons interact less readily with women;(b) the extension service has concentrated on larger smallholders whichexcludes most PHHs; (c) membership of women in farmers clubs has beenlow (though growing), and these are the main channel for seasonalagricultural credit, inputs and technical advice; (d) women's lack ofeducation.

(iii) Poor access to credit, and time and energy limitations alsoaffect rural women's ability to exploit opportunities for earning cashincome through part-time off-farm self-employment or casual wage work.This limits cash available for buying yield-enhancing farm inputs (orother cash expenditures on education, health and other basic needs).other factors which lower opportunities and capacity for self-employmentinclude women's lower mobility and relative educational disadvantage(see para 7 below), though these do not much affect possibilities forcasual wage labor (ganyu), which usually involves low-paid work on thefarms of wealthier households in the community. However, most womensmallholders prefer part-time self-employment to ganyu, as conflictingless with their own farming activities and having a higher cash return.

5. Another set of factors affecting women's general welfare and theirproductivity as workers is their unsatisfactory nutrition and health, highfertility, low levels of literacy and numeracy and poor access to educationand training. Many rural Malawian women have poor nutritional status evenin the post-harvest period of relative food availability. Spot surveyshave found severe seasonal undernutrition, with women suffering weightlosses of 1.9 - 4.2 kg between the post- and pre-harvest periods, comparedto 1.3 - 3.3 kg for men. It may not be that intra-family food distributionis unequal, but womens' heavier work-loads necessitate higher caloricintake. Labor-scarce FHHs are especially vulnerable, because of they havesmaller food stocks (due to lower farm yields) and insufficient labor toearn cash incomes with which to buy food.

6. Undernutrition, a heavy disease burden and unsafe childbearing aretogether largely responsible for low life expectancy and high maternalmortality among Malawian women, estimated at about 170 per 100,000 birthsfor medically supervised deliveries and presumably still higher for those

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that are not. The toll of communicable diseases (related to some extent topoor sanitation) is especially high for women, as they not only sufferillness themselves but also bear primary responsibility for caring forother household members during disease episodes. Women's health is furtherjeopardized by numerous (7.6 on average), insufficiently-spaced pregnanciesand prolonged childbearing. Although about half of all women wish to stopchildbearing or delay their next pregnancy, access to child spacingservices and information is still very limited, with services offered atonly about 25Z of health facilities. Still-low coverage of mothers withpost- and ante-natal care and supervised deliveries, lack of referral forhigh-risk cases and an inadequate system of alarm and transport forobstetrical emergencies are also serious issues.

7. There is a long history of lower female school enrollment andhigher illiteracy. Only 92 of women over 15 years have had more than 4years of school and illiteracy among women is estimated at 832 versus 562for men. Enrollment of girls has increased significantly this decade, buttheir drop-out rates are much higher than for boys and their achievement islower. Low educational levels for girls have high costs for development:women with primary education tend to have healthier and better-nourishedchildren, smaller families and higher labor productivity.

8. Existing WID Initiatives and Next Steps During the past decade,the Government and NGOs, with assistance from external aid agencies(including the Bank), have begun to ease some of the constraints thatrender life difficult for Malawian women. Overall, initiatives alreadyunderway are fragmented and project-oriented. There is no comprehensivestatement of development objectives targeting women -- the ten-yearnational development plan says little about women -- and there is aconsequent lack of programming and budgeting at the national and sectorallevels. With the establishment of the National Commission on Women inDevelopment (NCWID), the foundations for developing coherent policies andprograms targeted to women's needs have been laid, but NCWID needsstrengthening and much remains to be achieved.

9. Several developments in the past 3-4 years have improved thepolicy climate for the development of broad-based WID programs. First,there has been more recognition within Malawi that achievement of countrygrowth objectives will require much more emphasis on productivity increasesin smallholder agriculture and accelerated human resource development --both areas in which attention to women is centra'l. This has led to policyand program shifts in several sectors, most notably in agriculture whereresearch is now increasingly focussed on the needs of smaller smallholders(largely women) and steps are being taken to reach women farmers withadvice and credit through encouraging their participation in farmers,clubs. There is also still much to be done to relieve women farmers' laborand time constraints, especially in the area of developing anddisseminating household technologies (e.g., in food processing or cookingequipment), which could significantly reduce time spent on non-income-producing tasks. Malawi has one of the most successful rital waterprograms in Africa, but many areas remain uncovered. Eff-orts need tocontinue to improve access to safe water, and to increase rural supplies ofwood energy, which will reduce the time and energy that women have to spendfetching water and firewood. Transport remains highly constrained in ruralMalawi, constituting a special burden to rural women who are responsiblefor conveying over 70X of goods produced or used by the household. Anumber of small-scale projects have been initiated to increase womensmallholders' opportunities for part-time self-employment to generate

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necessary cash income but they are being implemented in an ad hcc mannerand lack a satisfactory institutional base.

10. In the human resource development area Government has a longerhistory of sensitivity to women's concerns: maternal health (and since1983, child-spacing) is seen as an important element of primary healthcare; nutrition education and supplements are provided to mothers throughhealth care facilities; efforts have been made to increase femaleenrollment in education; and an ambitious national adult literacy programhas been launched, 80? of whose participants are women. However, theimpact of these efforts, as evidenced in continuing unsatisfactorymortality, morbidity, fertility and literacy rates, has been small, atleast partially because of generally low levels of expenditure on socialservices which have constrained program effort in these sectors. Recentincreases in budgetary allocations to the social sectors should benefitwomen, given the strong emphasis on "women's issues" in these sectors.

11. Priorities for additional efforts include: (a) continued attemptsto increase women's access to agricultural extension advice and otherservices through farmers' clubs and women's groups and to improve therelevance of the advice to rural women's constrained situations; (b)increased access to agricultural (in-kind) and cash credit through measuressuch as smaller credit packages, strong support to the new Mudzi Fund(based on the Grameen Bank) and to trying out new approaches such aspromotion of savings and credit clubs; (c) increased access to child-spacing services and maternity care through both the health system,community-based programs and the new Family Welfare Council; (d)substantially greater attention to reducing women's time and energy spenton household tasks, especially introduction of low-cost food processingtechnologies and attention to transport needs; (e) increased emphasis onimproving continuation and achievement levels of schoolgirls andstrengthening the relevance and quality of literacy programs; (f)strengthening institutional capacity for promoting women's part-time self-employment activities covering credit, training, marketing and transportissues; and (g) development of affordable programs for seasonal nutritionalsupport to vulnerable women and their families.

13. Government, NGOs and donors need to work together to refine andexpand ongoing small-scale WID initiatives into full-fledged programs,consolidating disparate initiatives in the same area where necessary. Itis better to integrate WID issues into ongoing and proposed programs andactivities, rather than to develop separate WID operations. An integratedapproach with explicit attention to women's needs has two key advantages:it can help promote understanding of the relationship between "women'sissues" and growth imperatives; and it is more efficient and cost-effectiveto work within existing structures and programs to make them responsive tothe needs of both men and women than to set up new ones. However, where itis very difficult to change mainstream programs, special women's programsmay be the most effective strategy, and can play an important demonstrationand pilot role.

14. Explicit attention needs to be given to gender in policyformulation and institutional development. The NCWID needs to be supportedto enable it to fulfill its mandate of coordinating WID initiatives and towork with the Office of the President to include a coherent statement ofWID objectives and actions in national and sectoral development plans.

WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT IN MALAWIs

CONSTRAINTS AND ACTIONS

I. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

1.01 Malawi's population of 8.2 million is growing annually at about3.5 percent, and land density is already among the highest in Africa (AnnexI, Table 1). Per capita income is among the lowest in the world at US$160.The 1987 census reports only 11 percent of the population as living inurban areas, although many cities and towns have been growing at annualrates of between 6 and 11 percent since the 1977 census. The country islandlocked and has no known substantial mineral reserves, but has goodwater resources, moderately fertile soils and a climate favorable to cropproduction.

1.02 Consistent with the resource endowment, after Independence in1964, the development strategy emphasized agriculture, and transport andcommunication infrastructure. Economic management has been pragmatic andpolicies generally sound. Until 1979, economic growth was steady, andaveraged 6 percent per year in real terms. Since 1980, Malawi has had tocontend with adverse terms of trade movements, drought, and the disruptionof external transport routes by the instability in Mozambique (from whichabout 700,000 people have sought refuge in Malawi). Inflation has averagednearly 20 percent since 1984. The Government of Malawi (GOM) has respondedwith measu~%s to restore macroeconomic stability, improve efficiency ofresource use, and restore growth. A stringent program of fiscal policieshas been introduced, and the exchange rate has been adjusted repeatedly inan attempt to control inflation and restore economic incentives. Priceshave been decontrolled and export promotion and diversification programshave been implemented. These measures have helped restore a favorableenvironment for economic growth, which has increased steadily from 3.3percent in 1988189, to 4.4 percent in 1989190, and 4.8 percent in 1990/91.

1.03 The economic base is narrow - tobacco accounts for over half ofall exports, non-agricultural exports contribute less than 10 percent ofexport earnings. About 85 percent of the labor force is in agriculture,predominantly as smallholder farmers. Maize accounts for around 65-75percent of all land area under cultivation in most areas of thecountry. v Tobacco, tea and sugar estates employ about 5 percent of thelabor force, providing about 40 percent of all wage employment. The non-agricultural formal sector is small, employing only about 7 percent of thelabor force. The informal sector is estimated at about 3 percent of thelabor force. There are no statistics of part-time participation in theinformal sector, however, most farming families generate some income in thesector.

1.04 Public expenditure on social services has been relatively low.Although social indicators have shown enormous improvement sinceIndependence, they remain poor even by African standards. Widespread

U The country is divided into 8 agricultural development districts (ADDs).The least maize-dominated ADDs are Karonga and Ngabu, where the area undermaize is 48 and 33 percent respectively.

undernutrition, especially among small children, has retarded progress inreducing infant and child mortality; infant mortality is still 151 deathsper thousand live births, and life expectancy at birth is only 47 years.The health system is good, and 85 percent of the population live within 8km of a modern health facility, but the disease burden is heavy. Malariais a leading cause of death and hospital admissions fpr all age groups.Only 43 percent of children aged 6-13 are in primary school. There areformal secondary school places for only 11 percent of those who qualify,and including the distance education system, gross enrollment in thesecondary system is about 9 percent. More than 70 percent of thepopulation over 10 years of age is illiterate, illiteracy is even higheramong women. Data collected in 1980/81 suggested that about 70 percent ofrural households did not have access to safe drinking water and over 40percent had no sanitation facilities. In recognition of these shortfallsfrom national goals, and of the importance of a strong human resource basefor development, Government is now committed to increasing the share ofpublic expenditures allocated to the social sectors.

1.05 The Government remains strongly committed to a broad-basedstructural adjustment program that aims at encouraging diversification ofproduction and exports, improving performance of productive sectors,strengthening private commerce and trading; strengthening key developmentinstitutions, and improving resource mobilization and allocation in thepublic sector. Attention to the particular constraints facing women, andto possible gender-specific responses to policy changes and incentives,would contribute to successful adjustment and growth.

1.06 Sustainable growth will depend crucially on productivity increasesin smallholder agriculture and on developing human resources. Womenconstitute more than half of Malawi's human resources, and have a criticalimpact on development of children and the health of the whole family. Theypredominate among smallholder farmers. According to the 1977 census,nearly 70 percent of all full-time farmers (i.e., working 10-12 months eachyear on their own holdings) were women (Annex I, Table 2) -- an 11 percentincrease since the 1966 census. Women also accounted for nearly onequarter of part-time smallholder farmers, a massive increase over thedecade. The success of agricultural development programs, especially thosethat target small landholders, will be jeopardized if they do not takeaccount of the specific constraints faced by women farmers.

1.07 This introduction has delineated the economic and socialenvironment within which Malawian women live. Most are preoccupied withgrowing enough food for their family in a situation of increasing landpressure which forces continuous cropping, depleting soil fertility.Fertilizer prices have been pushed up steeply by increased transportationcosts for imports, at the same time as government budget pressures haverequired a reduction in subsidies. Few families grow enough to last thewhole year. There are very limited opportunities for wage employment, andfood deficit households (including the landless) struggle to earn enough tocover even their basic food needs - to buy the 90kg bag of maize needed tofeed a family of average size for a month required 30 days of work at therural minimum wage in 1980, nearly 40 days in 1989 before the May 1 wagerevision, and 19 days at the present minimum wage. Many families rely ontransfers or remittances from family members and relatives, and on a wide

range of intermittent wage- and self-employment activities. This adds tothe linkages betu-een rural households and the rest of the economy. Thereare many women who must cope alone with their farms and families: nearlythirty percent of households are headed by women, and the husbands of manyother migrate within the country looking for employment. Women are at aconsiderable disadvantage in the wage-labor market. The burdens ofchildbearing, childcare and household tasks are heavys women give birth toan average of nearly 8 children in all. Frequent illness and poornutrition sap strength, while the typically highly labor-intensive methodsof food production, processing and cooking place heavy demands on theirenergy, and firewood must be gathered from increasingly far places. Thefollowing section analyses the special constraints that affect women'sparticipation in economic and social development. Section III reviewsefforts by Government, NGOs and donors to relieve these constraints.

II. CONSTRAINTS WOMEN FACE

2.01 As the preceding section outlined, the special constraints facedby Malawian women are numerous and interlinked to a considerable extent.For example; women's arduous and time-consuming household chores andfrequent child-bearing reduce time and energy for farming and incomeearning activities; heavy labor and pregnancy also raise dietaryrequirements, which exacerbates undernutrition and physical debilitation inperiods of food scarcity. Low levels of education and literacy reducewomen's capacity to gain formal employment, adopt innovations in farming orbenefit fully from extension and credit services; this keeps incomes low.Low agricultural yields and attendant poverty increase the likelihood ofundernutrition and susceptibility to disease, which in turn reduce laborproductivity and potential for raising incomes. While recognizing theselinkages, this section, for purposes of convenience, reviews women'sconstraints under two broad headings, namely: factors which directly affectwomen's capacity to earn income, and human resource issues which affectboth welfare and productivity. In line with the country emphasis onincreasing smallholder productivity, and given that tbe bulk of Malawianwomen are in the small-farm sector, the first part focuses on the situationof women farmers but includes discussion of women in wage employment inagriculture and other sectors. The second part analyses the situation ofwomen with respect to nutrition, fertility, health status and access toeducation and training. Together, these factors largely determine thEdegree to which women can be adaptable and productive as workers as well asthe extent to which they can appreciate and enjoy the world around them.In addition, given the close correlation between women's health, nutritionand education and the well-being of their children, attention to women'swelfare is central to the achievement of Malawi's goal of accelerated humanresource development.

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Part As Constraints on Income Earning Capacity

Women in the Small Farm Sector

2.02 About 80 percent of Malawi's economically active population aresmallholder farmers. As noted above (para 1.06), women constitute about 70percent of these, so the constraints and problems of this sector affectwomen disproportionately. Productivity in the smallholder sector has beendeclining overall. Population pressure is bringing more marginal landunder cultivation and forcing continuous mono-cropping, which depletes soilfertility. Maize yields have been falling, and will continue to do sounless use of plant nutrients and high-yielding crop varieties increases.Low levels of technology contribute to poor agricultural productivity andincomes -- cultivation is mostly by hand-held hoe, only about 10 percent ofthe area planted to maize is under high-yielding hybrids, and as many as 80percent of smallholders apply virtually no plant nutrients. Women faceseveral additional obstaclest (a) frequent absence of men from farms andconsequent seasonal labor shortages; (b) less time for farm-work due toheavy burdens of housework and childcare; (c) relatively poorer access toyield-en'ancing inputs, credit, and extension advice; and (d) feweropportunities and limited time for off-farm self-employment to earn thecash income needed for farm inputs and other essential purchases. Thesefactors are discussed in some detail in paras 2.03 - 2.16 below.

2.03 Labor Shortage. Smallholder female-headed households (FHHs) havefewer adult males, which means less labor for farm work and generating off-farm cash income. These households are unlikely to have resources forhiring extra labor. This labor limitation keeps many FHHs in a cycle ofpoverty: during periods of peak agricultural activity, many women are notable to complete planting and weeding within the optimal time, and arelikely to have to hire themselves out as casual labor (see para 2.20) tosupplement depleted household food stocks when it is most critical to workon their own gardens. This lowers yields considerably -- it has beenestimated that a delay of two weeks in planting can reduce maize yields by25 percent. The consequence of low yields is a recurrence of seasonal foodshortages, which once again reduces time available for work on own farmsand leads to lower productivity due to underautrition (see para. 2.31).

2.04 The numbers and proportion of women farmers who have no husband,or whose husband has migrated to find work, leaving them to cope alone, islarge and increasing. In 1980/81, almost 30 percent of rural smallholderhouseholds were headed by single women or women whose husbands returnedless often than once a month and who therefore had principal responsibilityfor day-to-day decisions, especially regarding agriculture. The proportionof FHHs ranged from 14 percent in Kasungu to 36 percent in Liwonde ADD(Table 2.1). Seventy percent of these women were unmarried, 10 percentwere in polygamous marriages, and twenty percent had absent husbands inwage employment on estates, in towns, or outside Malawi.

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Table 2.1Percentase of Female Headed Households (FHH)

by Marital Status and Area, 1980181

dnobgaous PolygamousA.D.D. Percent of FHH MarlMrse Harriage Unmarried

Karong 1? 14 soMausu 21 17 Oaoasunga 14 18 s8

Sal1m. 28 16 isLiIongwo 27 21 StLiwond. 87 20 soBIantyre 84 22 79Ntgabu 24 28 C0Malawi 28 20 t0

Source: COU and UNICEF, Th Situation of Women and Children in Malawi, September1987, Lilonie, Malawi, p.83.

2.05 Research in southern Zomba which explored dirferences within thebroad group of FHHs distinguished among three sub-groups: de jure FHHs,where the woman was widowed or divorced; male absentee households, wherethe husband was away for at least half of the 10 months research period andwas engaged in employment activities within Malawi; and those whosehusbands were migrant workers in South Africa, which were called TEBAhouseholds. V TEBA households had significantly higher incomes, moreland, were much more likely to apply fertilizer, had larger harvests thanthe other FHHs, and relied very much less on crop ssles for income. Theirlarger household size reduced these differences in per capita terms, buteven so, TEDA per capita incomes were more than double the other FHHs, andlarger than the male-headed households (Table 2.2). The poorest group wereF.-H with absentee husbands within Malawi, although the de jure FHH were notmuch better off.

Table 2.2Household Size and Composition, Cultivated Land, Harvests,

and Per Capita Income, by Household Head Categories

Male TEBA Male *bsent FHH do jure FHH

Sample number (%) 137 (65) 14 (19) 30 (41) 29 (40)Do facto hh size 6.8 6.2 6.9 6.1Male equlv. laborers 2.6 1.8 1.9 1.7Women per man 1.8 1.7 1.2 1.9Children per adult 1.4 2.9 2.0 1.8Per cap hb. cultivated 0.26 0.24 0.19 0.22Per cap kg maize harvest 160.2 214.0 108.4 167.5Per cap Income In MK 84.15 117.02 60.89 67.11

Source: Peters and Herrera, 1989, Table 2.1

V P.E. Peters and M.G. Herrera, 1989, Cash Cropping, Food Security andNutrition: the Effects of Agricultural Commercialization Among Smallholdersin Malawi, HIID, Cambridge MA.

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2.06 Land There appears to be a clear correlation between the size oflandholding and the presence of men as illustrated in Table 2.3 below,which shows that women household heads have smaller than average landholdings compared to male household heads. The direction of causalitycould run either way: FHHs could have been allocated small parcels of landbecause the family had less adult labor, or in other cases men may haveleft to look for wage employment elsewhere because the family landholdingwas too small, so that inadequate land resulted in the household beingheaded by a woman. Peters' study of 217 households in southern Zomba foundevidence that "land holds men". The larger the family's landholding, themove hours of agricultural work by men were recorded. "A shortage of land,in contrast, is associated with the allocation of men's time off the farm,which is then left almost entirely to women to manage." '

Table 2.3Distribution by Cultivated Area, by Sex of Household Head, 1980-81

Cultivated Area Female Headed Male Headed All(Hectares) Households Households Households< 0.5 35 19 240.50-O.;9 37 29 311.00-1.49 16 20 191.50-1.99 7 12 112.00-2.99 4 13 10

> 3.00 1 6 5

Source: GOM and UNICEF, The Situation of Women and Children in Malawi,September 1987, Lilongwe, Malawi, p.74, from GOM, NSSA 1980/81, NSO, 1984.

2.07 A recent research report ' suggests that with the decrease inunallocated customary land, land reallocation is tending to reduce women'scustomary and statutory rights to land, contrary to established tradition.Among the matrilineal-matrilocal groups (in which land is allocated towomen when they marry, and men take residence with their wives) whichpredominate in the southern and central regions where land pressures aremost acute, it is reportedly becoming more common for men to take theirwives to their own villages, for parents to give land to sons in theirlifetime, and for sons to be allowed to inherit land upon their mothers'deaths. There has been no systematic study of this, however. If in factwomen's access to land is being threatened, or they are being allottedsmaller parcels of land as competition from men increases, this may implyfurther increase in the numbers and proportion of labor-scarce FHHG in thefuture. Growing uncertainty over rights to land could also have seriousconsequences for women's willingness to invest in cash crops (e.g., coffeeand tobacco) which bear fruit over a period of time.

E ibid., p52

g J.S. Nankumba and M.R. Machika, Dynamics of Land Tenur-e and AgrarianSystems in Africa, The Case of Malawi, Research report for FAO and themalawi Government, June 1988, p28f.

2.08 Toll of Non-Farming Tasks Rural women, and especially womenhousehold heads, have a very heavy burden of household tasks. This limitstime and energy available for farming and other income-producingactivities. A careful time-use study of 28 households in 2 villages foundthat women's work day lasted 12 hours, with household tasks taking 4-6hours (compared with a 4-6 hour work-day for men, depending on the time ofyear). LI Most household tasks such as fetching water, collectingfirewood and pounding maize involve arduous physical work and must beperformed daily, in addition to farm labor. Moreover, because of thedistances involved in fetching wood and water, the time required isextraordinarily high. Nearly half of Malawian women spend more than anhour a day fetching water, and about one third of women must make a triplonger th.an one hour to collect firewood; C on average, women spend theequivalent of one-half day a week collecting wood. Z There aresubstantial inter- and intra-regional differences with respect to theavailability of amenities commonly-used by rural women (Table 2.4). Forinstance, ADDs in the Southern Region appear to be relatively better servedwith water sources, but lack easily accessible firewood. Thus, while thetask of fetching water may be relatively light, collection of fuelwood mayrequire several hours.

Table 2.4Percentage of Households by Distance* to Amenities

by Agriculture Development DivisionMalawi ro M!uau So Kunou Ii Lilonowe Li;onde Blantyre

Improved Waterunder 2k- 52 55 33 36 64 55 47 60 612-8km 32 36 45 40 25 32 31 26 30over 8km 17 10 22 24 11 13 22 14 10

Firewood Supplyunder 2km 56 69 89 84 62 68 56 63 522-ekm 27 31 10 13 36 26 33 30 38over 8ke 6 C1 <1 3 2 6 11 8 10

Grocery Storeunder 2km 65 50 37 S6 73 65 72 77 512-8k 33 46 51 44 24 34 27 23 48over Bkm 2 4 12 <1 3 1 1 1 2

Note: Column total. my not equal 100 because of ro:unding."Estimated tim to umk:

Under 2k1 = up to 1 hour round trip; 2-Bkm - up to 3 hours round trip. over 8km n miniaum 3 hour round trip.

Source: CMM, NS 1934

2.09 As the table above suggests, women spend substantial time andenergy walking to and from sources of supply of routine household needs andin "headloading' these to carry them home. In addition, women often helpto transport farm inputs and are primarily responsible for carryinghousehold produce to mills or markets for processing or sale. These trips,

L L. Engberg, J. Sabry and S. Beckerson, 1985, "A Comparison of RuralWomen's Time Use in Two Villages in MalawiO, mimeo, Department of FamilyStudies, University of Guelph, Ontario. Day long observation and recallwas used for 3 days in February, 1981 (pre-harvest) and 3 days in July(post-harvest), for 28 families.

V NSO, 1984.

7J Spring et.al., p6.

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while equally or more arduous and time-consuming, are probably lessfrequent, though still regular. In general, it is reported that men tendto share responsibility for transportation of household goods when thehousehold possesses or can afford to rent an ox-cart, truck or bicycle.These are usually too expensive for most smallholders to purchase. Other,cheaper housework aids -- such as handcarts or fuel-efficient stoves (toreduce firewood needs) -- are also not widely available or used. Moreover,there is little affordable public transportation available in rural areas.Of the larger bus service operators, only one provides scheduled (butunreliable) services in the rural areas, and many routes are discontinuedduring the rainy season. Restrictions on the operation of mini-buses inrural areas have been eased, but high operating costs and lack of creditdeter service expansion. Passenger transport on freight vehicles, called"matola" is illegal, but often the only means of motorized transportavailable in rural areas. Where buses are available, fares are usually toohigh to allow frequent use. For instance, female traders interviewed inBlantyre and Lilongwe reported that bus fares would consume about halftheir daily earnings, so most walked hours to reach their destinations.

2.10 Besides having to undertake burdensome household and other off-farm tasks, women's timellabor for farm work is also affected by theirsubstantial childcare responsibilities and, especially, by frequentpregnancies which sap strength. These factors are discussed in detail inthe section on human resource development (see paras 2.33-2.35).

2.11 Limited Access to Agricultural Services The third set oflimitations to women smallholders' income-earning capability derives fromtheir relatively lower access to agricultural services. Several factorsmake it less likely that women farmers will adopt high-yielding packagesand other agricultural innovations. Some factors derive from the nature ofthe National Rural Development Program (NRDP), others have to do with thecharacteristics of women farmers (tending to have less land, labor andeducation). Bypassing women farmers has been unintentional, but has had ahigh cost in terms of the food security of many FHH, and very highefficiency costs, particularly given the country's heavy reliance onsmallholder agricultural production.

2.12 Before 1981, no explicit attention was paid to women farmers, andit was taken for granted that extension messages would be passed on frommen to their wives. Women's role as farmers was overlooked, and extensionmessages were targeted to them as homemakers, through the MOA and MOCS homeeconomics programs. The aims, emphases and structure of the extensionservice also resulted in the unintentional systematic exclusion of women.MOA focused on high potential farmers, few of whom were women. Theemphasis was on raising farm incomes and producing a marketable surplus byintroducing high-yielding maize varieties. These are generally regarded asa cash crop because they do not pound easily using traditional methods,have high storage losses, and less desirable taste, and since mostsmallholders understandably give priority to satisfying their consumptionneeds, uptake has been very low. Since 1981, greater attention has beenpaid to the needs of smallholders, but some factors continue to inhibitwomen's access to services.

2.13 An issue of key concern is the strong male bias of the extensionservice. Most of the extension officers are men, who, for culturalreasons, interact less readily with women. For their part, women have beenreluctant to participate in group meetings of mostly men. In 1985 therewere 1,807 male and 200 female extension workers. Of the 1.3 millionsmallholder families, 390,000 were female-headed. If contact were gender-specific, this would imply 1,950 FHH per female extension workers, and justmore than 400 male-headed households per male extension worker. Whenfemale farmers living in male-headed households are included, the disparityis far worse. The "mainstream" extension staff, Farm Assistants (FAs)receive two to four times as much training as the Farm Home Assistants(FHAs) employed under MOA's women's program. FA's training emphasizesagriculture and farm management, whereas FHA's training has devotedconsiderable attention to homemaking skills.

2.14 Women are much less likely than men to take agricultural credit.Only a small (though growing) proportion of women are members of farmersclubs, the main channel for seasonal agricultural credit, and very few takemedium-term loans which are usually larger -- only 1 percent of borrowersof medium-term credit in Lilongwe ADD in 1982/83 were women. o' Farmclub membership is a pre-condition for receiving credit, and there iscollective repayment responsibility. Resource poor farmers who are seen aspoor credit risks are unwelcome as members, and occasional forcefulcollection of payments (or of the assets of defaulters) has deterred risk-averse low-resource farmers. No gender-specific credit data are availablefrom MOA for years prior to 1983/84. Table 2.5 shows the low participationof women in the credit system in 1983/84, and the significant improvementin recent years in response to the efforts of the MOA (and see Annex I,Table 3 for data disaggregated by ADD). These efforts are described inSection III.

Table 2.5Farmer Participation in Agricultural Seasonal Credit

by Gender, 1982/83 - 1988/89

Season Total clubs Membership, of which Men Women Z Women

1982/83 6,654 155,703 - - n/a1983/84 7,191 180,256 153,221 27,035 15.01984/85 8,148 211,770 177,497 34,273 16.21985/86 8,259 207,996 167,617 40,379 19.41986/87 8,045 206,409 153,908 52,501 25.41987/88 9,129 243.468 170,935 72,543 29.81988/89 11,569 312,564 222,950 89,614 28.7

Source: MOA

v A. Spring, Smith and Kayuni, 1983, "Women Farmers in Malawi: TheirContribution to Agriculture and Development Projects", United States Agencyfor International Development.

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2.15 Limited Opportunities for Off-Farm Income Generation Incomefrom off-farm self employment is an important source of cash for many ruralfamilies. Cash income is critical for buying yield-enhancing farm inputs,in addition to financing food purchases for non-self sufficient householdsand providing cash for school fees, medical expenses, soap, salt and otherbasic needs. Cash income is generally underestimated in routine surveys.A 1989 study in southern Malawi found that smallholders spent two-and-a-half times as much time on off-farm work as reflected in MOA data. Onaverage, 75 percent of cash income was from off-farm sources. v All ofthe 210 households in the Zomba area study earned some off-farm income,which accounted for almost 40 percent of total income on average, and 30percent even for the relatively high income tobacco-growing households.Income sources are highly diversified for most households, whose "incomeand food strategies depend on juggling own-crop production with self-employed income generating activities, ... wage work, andtransfers..". zu Small-scale production, retailing, services, and salesof processed foods and beer provided 10-14 percent of total income, theproportion generally increasing with income level. Women tend to express astrong preference for income generating activities over ganyu work (seepara 2.20), as having a higher cash return and conflicting less with theirown farming activities. (The latter is particularly important for labor-scarce FHHs --para 2.03). A 1985 study of women in 600 households in 3areas, 48 women's groups, and all the extension workers who had worked withthem found that non-farm activities contributed 14 percent of total cashincome. lJ The most common activity was beer brewing, which took 3-4days and an outlay of about MK20, generated gross proceeds of about MK44,and did not disrupt the women's other commitments. Food processing,another popular activity, required a very low outlay, but had a highlyconstrained market. In most cases, the activity was a 'one-woman' affair.

2.16 The growth of off-farm income generating opportunities in therural areas faces a number of major constraints: very low purchasing power;a lack of transport, communication, and marketing infrastructure in therural areas; limited access to technologies appropriate to small-scaleenterprises; a lack of relevant training opportunities in small businessmanagement; and poor credit availability, especially for very small,unsecured loans for working capital purposes. In addition to theconstraints that affect all entrepreneurs, the enormous demands on women'stime and energy, lower mobility and their relative educational disadvantage(see paras 2.36-2.41) make it doubly difficult for them to exploitavailable opportunities. MOCS and MOA are trying to assist groups of poorrural women to undertake income-generating activities, but the factorslisted above and the shortage of extension workers hamper their efforts.

2 Kawinga Credit Study, 1989, unpublished.

Zu Peters and Herrera, op. cit., p25.

IV Chipande, Mkwezalamba, Mwaisango and Mhango, December 1986, IncomeGenerating Activities for Rural Women in Malawi, Center for SocialResearch, University of Malawi, for the Ministry of Community Services.

Women in Agricultural Employment

2.17 Agricultural Estate Workers The 1977 census counted 14,600 womenin full-time employment on estates (9.4 percent of agricultural employees)and 25,900 women living with husbands who were full-time workers onestates, many of wnom are likely to have been employed in some capacity atsome periods of the year. About 10 percent of a 1989 sample of 350households employed on estates were headed by women; 35 percent of alladult workers were women. w Tenants on estates are treated as self-employed and excluded from employment statistics. However, since the landis controlled by the estates and tenants are obliged to sell their crop tothe estate at a fixed price, their status is much more like piece-workemployees than own-account workers. Generally, estates will not acceptwomen as tenants in their own right, but tenant households typicallyinclude women who contribute fully to the work. The numbers involved aresubstantial: a sample of 260 tenant households drawn from 23 estatesincluded 350 adult women, as well as 390 other adult men.

2.18 A 1984 study found that women tend to be discriminated against inthe estate labor market, sometimes being paid lower wages than men for thesame tasks, and generally being relegated to lower-paying and more seasonaljobs. w41 It was found that the sexual division of labor effectivelyeliminated women from full-time employment. Seventy percent of the womenwho had worked on the tea estates had worked less than three months duringthe previous year, compared with only 5 percent of the 82 husbands of womeninterviewed. The activities -- weeding, picking, and plucking -- in whichestate managers believed women had a comparative advantage over men are themost highly seasonal. "It was also found that women tended to be engagedon the more laborious, tedious and painstaking tasks. In most cases thesewere the least paying jobs". w On the tobacco estates that hired labordirectly (rather than operating a tenancy system) many of the tasks werereserved for men; women were considered to be less productive than men,except in tying bundles of tobacco leaves into bunches or 'hands," whichwas the only task reserved solely for women. However, the study found thatwomen were hired for the tasks usually done by men when men wereunavailable, and women in tenant households on tobacco estates performedall tasks, except for the construction of barns.

w Survey carried out during preparation of the World Bank Report No. 8140-MAI: Malawi - Growth Through Poverty Reduction by the Center for SocialResearch, University of Malawi in April 1989. Tea, tobacco and sugarestates were included.

4 ibid.

w Vaughan and Chipande, 1986. Seven flue-cured tobacco estates in theKasungu region were visited, and a total of 84 women interviewed. Thelabor records of a further 18 estates belonging to large companies wereinspected. Thirty tea estates were surveyed, and 192 women on 6 teaestates interviewed.

Iv Vaughan and Chipande, p.46.

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2.19 The Agricultural Employers' Association Agreed Practices onWages, Terms and Conditions of Employment provides for shorter hours forwomen with family responsibilities, which is intended to protect womenrather than to disadvantage them. The official minimum wage appliesequally to men and to women, however, whereas only one of the tobaccoestates surveyed in 1984 paid men less than the official minimum wage, 9 ofthe 11 estates for which reliable wage information was available paid womenless than the minimum wage, which at the time was 58 tambala (about 35 UScents) per day. In some cases, women were paid only for completed tasks,and earnings ranged from 18 to 30 tambala per day. In 1985, an estateworker employed full-time at the minimum wage earned barely enough to buythe 90-kilogram bag of unmilled maize needed to feed a family of 6 for amonth. w About one third of the women surveyed on the tea estates hadno access to land for growing food, and most of the rest had less than 1hectare.

Tabl- 2.6Average DeI Y Pay (Tambel*) for Womn and Men In

Ten rTue-Cured Tobacco Estates in Kasunna District. 1984

Estate 1 2 a 4 5 6 7 e 9 10

Women 43 58 48 64 S8 60 44 18-S8 18-55 s8Men 58 58 S8 58 S8 58 58 58 44-65 s8

Source: 0OM and UNICEF, The Situation of Women and Children In Malawi, September 1987,Lilongwe, Malawi, p84.

2.20 Casual Agricultural Wage Labor (Ganyu) The official statistics onwomen in wage employment in agriculture exclude many women who undertakeseasonal work on estates and the undetermined number of women who do casuallabor (ganyu) for other households in their own or nearby villages,sometimes at very low wages. A study of 48 women in Phalombe in 1981 foundthat one third of married women and 70 percent of unmarried women did ganyuwork regularly in the wet season w. Women in all income groups in a1989 sample of 126 households in Kawinga reported doing more days of ganyueach year than men. There was a sharp difference between women in thebetter-off and median income land holding groups, who reported an averageof 6 ganyu days, and women in the poorest group with least land,predominantly FHHs, who reported 20 ganyu days (Table 2.7). Peters andHerrera also found an inverse relationship between reliance on ganyu laborand income/landholding levels: women in households with less than onehectare of land allocated more time to ganyu than those with more land, andwomen whose husbands were absent (but in Malawi) or who were alone (theworst-off group) did significantly more ganyu than the rest. Most women inKawinga earned an average of MKO.86 per day for ganyu (marginally above the

I Msukwa, L. and W. Ettema, Food Production and Malnutrition in Malawi,University of Malawi, Center for Social Research, 1985.

w J. Evans, 1981, "Rural Women's Agricultural Extension Program inPhaolmbe Rural Development Project: Working Document on the Base-line 1",mimeo. Unmarried women's land holdings were on average 40 percent smallerthan those of the married women and were generally poorer quality land.

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rural minimum wage of MKO.74 at the time) and were unanimous in preferringother, more lucrative sources of earnings (e.g. beer-brewing and trading).The poorest groups earned the highest ganyu wages, perhaps because theyworked longer ganyu days than other farmers, who tend to try and fit insome work on their own fields as well.

Table 2.7Ganyu Labor Days and Other Off-farm Working Days in 1989

Kawinga Sample of Rural Households

No. of Land Incom Days (wage) ganyu Days other off-farmHouseholds (ha.) MK/year en Womn Men Women (wag)

Better-off Grp 27 1.42 430 2 (n.e. 4 (.86) 146 11 (1.84)Median group 62 0.68 828 6 (n 8 (.86) 90 6 (8.60)Median Women l8 0.88 188 1 (n.a.) 6 (. 86) 62 88 (0.99)Poorest 21 0.40 107 8 (1.86) 20 (.08) 48 18 (0.89)

Note: Income include crop and livestock sales, agricultural wages, off-farm workand remittances, excludes valuo of crops grown and consumed. Average dailywage rates for ganyu labor In parentheses are In UK.

Source: Kawings Annual Survey of Agriculture, Credit Survey, 19n.

Women in Other Formal Employment

2.21 Participation and Wage Levels Increasing numbers of women areentering wage employment, many of whom are the main providers for theirfamilies and need to find full-time jobs. The number of women in non-agricultural formal sector jobs increased from 7,300 to 22,200 between 1971and 1984, and across all sectors the number increased four-fold between1971 and 1984, a rise from 7.7 percent to 14.5 percent of total employment(Table 2.8). Women working in the formal sector are concentrated in a fewoccupations: nursing, teaching, stenography and sales. They make up nearly20 percent of clerical workers, 27 percent of sales workers, 23 percent ofservice workers, but less than 5 percent of administrative and managerialworkers. Women are disproportionately represented among workers who arepaid entirely in kind, the value of whose earnings are likely to beconsiderably less than those paid in cash. The 1983 Labor Force Surveyestimated that 1,500 regular workers and 1,000 casual workers were beingpaid in kind only, of which 57 and 31 percent respectively were women.

Table 2.8Numbers and Prcentae of Women Formal Sector

wag! Emoloyees by Subsector, 1971. 1976. 19883an1984Percentage Numbera1971 19t6 198 19d4 197 97 9S 1984

ANricuIt.ir. 11.0 14.7 17.7 15.S 6.0 15.3 35.2 27.5Mininng 0 7 0 0.0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0Manufacturin. 2.4 4.5 18.5 24.0 0.5 1.6 685 11.0Electricit 2 2 6.7 7S 8.2 0 5 0.2 0.4 0.4Construction 0.2 0,6 1 3 1.1 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.3Trade A Catering 4 .7 12.0 9.a 10.3 0 .6 2 . 2 S S.3Tr nsport 2 1 3 0 4 1 4.6 0 2 0 4 0 9 1 0Finn * Sun. Services 18.2 13.3 10 6 10 9 0.8 0.5 1.2 1.8CoAmnity Services 10 0 10 4 8 44 17 14 10 4 - 99Total 7.7 10.3 14.6 14.5 14.1 27.0 57.4 5. 6

Note: Date for 1971 and 1976 are fros the mold series" which exclude firms with feaer than 20 employees. All regiateredfirms are included in the 1983 and 1984 data.Saurce: National Statiotical Office (NSO).

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2.22 Women's relatively poor access to formal sector wage employment isreflected in much higher unemployment rates for girls with secondary9education than for boys, and in the distribution by education of the laborforce (Annex I, Tables 4-6). The 1977 census data show that primaryeducation was the cut-off point for entry into fairly unskilled clericaljobs (such as mail distribution clerk) for men, whereas women needed asecondary-school education for the same jobs.

2.23 Average wage and employment changes in manufacturing in 1983 and1984 indicate that women suffer wage discrimination, i.e. are paid lessthan men in the same jobs. A dramatic rise in the number of women employedin manufacturing in 1983 and 1984 was accompanied by a fall in averageearnings in this subsector of about 10 percent in each year (Table 2.9).The concentratiton of women in manufacturing jobs increased from less than5 percent in previous years to 13.5 percent in 1983 and 24 percent in 1984.The fall in the number of men employed in manufacturing in 1984 suggeststhat women were substituted for men. (Only a very small proportioal ofmanufacturing workers are Government employees, this discussion thereforerefers to the private sector.)

Table 2.9Employment by Gender and Changes in Average Earnings in

Manufacturing, 1982-1984

Employment as Z of total Average EarningsMale Female Male Female Z Change on Previous Yr

Government and Private1982 33,730 1,569 95.6 4.4 n/a1983 41,388 6,479 86.5 13.5 -10.91984 37,679 11,873 76.0 24.0 - 9.01985 41,115 19,084 68.3 31.7 - 2.8

Private sector only1982 32,240 1,527 95.5 4.5 n/a1983 39,598 6,423 86.0 14.0 n/a1984 36,328 11,814 75.5 24.5 n/a1985 38,696 19,001 67.1 32.9 n/a

Source: NSO

2.24 Limitations on Access to Formal Sector Jobs Several factors helpexplain women's relative disadvantage in the formal labor market. One isthe heavy childbearing and childcare burden that women bear and thetraditional view that a woman's place is in the home. Even women workingin demanding jobs with high levels of responsibility bear exclusive (ornearly-so) responsibility for the home. In many societies, girls aresocialized to the idea that they will do less well at school than boys,that there are specific jobs that are appropriate for them, and thatmarriage and children take priority. The concomitant of these attitudes isthat women's work needs and aspirations are seen as expendable, especiallywhen men are unemployed or underemployed. The recent return of the 20,000

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Malawian men who had been working in the South African mines will increasecompetition for jobs in industry. "/

2.25 A second and very important reason is women's very limitededucation and low participation in technical training. Although thesituation has improved since Independence, and equal numbers of boys andgirls now start school, many fewer girls achieve a JC or better. wQFurther details concerning female education and training issues are givenin paras 2.36-2.41.

2.26 A third causal factor is the attitude of many employers who havenegative perceptions of women as employees. These may be based onexperience, and tend to have hardened into a stereotype. Women may be seenas having poorer educational standards, less commitment to their jobs, andless ambition and drive. It is expected that women will follow theirhusbands if they are relocated, and resist geographical job movesthemselves. Frequent pregnancies (every three or four years) are seen asdisruptive. It may be that interviews would have revealed Malawianemployers to be like male employers in Zambia: "well disposed towardemploying women ... yet consistently voiced baffled, negative attitudestoward their women employees and toward the inappropriate characteristicswhich they believe women bring to the work force." aU

2.27 Thus women are at a disadvantage in the labor market relative tomen in having worse access to jobs, higher unemployment rates, and lowerearnings. To the extent that gender discrimination is not based onproductivity differences, it has inefficiency costs. This fact, plusequity considerations, and the negative implications for the welfare ofthese women and their families, justify measures to overcome this problem.Many developed countries have enacted legislation to prohibitdiscrimination. Although enforcement is costly and difficult, suchlegislation can be an important signal to employers that the Government iscommitted to equitable treatment of women workers.

w The ending of recruitment or renewal of contracts for the South Africanmines coincided with the refusal by the Malawian Government to agree to theSouth African Mining Association's demand that all prospective mine workersbe tested for HIV infection prior to being signed on in Malawi. However,GOM representatives explain that this was not the real reason, and thismust be seen in the context of the mines' decision to decrease reliance onnon-South African labor in the face of high unemployment in South Africa.

Mu "JC" is the Junior Certificate examination that is taken at the end ofthe first two years of secondary school. The secondary cycle is completedafter another two years when the Malawi Certificate of Education is taken.

22 Comments based on interviews with 6 Zambian employers/trainers/personnel officers who collectively employed about 10,000 women: EileenKane, 1988, Women and Formal Vocational Training in Zambia, report for theInternational Labor Organization (ILO) and Development Cooperation Divisionof the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs, p xv.

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Women in the Informal Sector

2.28 Small, often unregistered businesses are a primary source ofincome for many, and the importance of this sector is expected to grow aspopulation growth intensifies land pressures and job seekers increasinglyoutnumber job openings in the formal sector. u As in the formalsector, it seems that poor education inhibits wc en's participation.Informal sector entrepreneurs tend to be relatively educated, middle-aged,and are predominantly men. Women are concentrated in the smallerenterprises -- they comprised 7 percent of a sample which had an average of1.5 employees, and 12 percent of a sample which had an average of 0.4employees per enterprise. 2' Relatedly, women are found in a smallrange of activities -- food and beverage processing, pottery and beerbrewing. About 25 percent of tailors (using sewing machines) are women.Several factors combime with women's low education to pose formidablebarriers to entry into the sector: lack of business skills and employmentexperience, and poor access to information and credit.

Part B: Issues in Human Resource Development

Nutrition, Health and Fertility Ou

2.29 Food Availability, Caloric Requirements and Undernutrition Inthe absence of systematic survey data or health system statistics onmalnutrition among adult Malawians, it is difficult to determine preciselyits national prevalence. Such evidence as does exist indicates that womensuffer from malnutrition, especially seasonal malnutrition, to a greaterextent than do men. A study conducted in Lilongwe ADD (Beckerson 1983)revealed that women from a sample of tobacco-growing smallholder householdslost an average of 4.2 kg between the post-harvest and pre-harvest periodscompared with only 3.3 kg for men. Among subsistence smallholderhouseholds, women's weight loss between the two periods averaged 1.9 kgversus 1.3 kg for men. The occurrence of such severe weight loss isparticularly serious in view of the fact that many Halawian women(particularly in rural areas) suffer from nutritional wasting tg --

studies carried out between 1970 and 1982 revealed that the average weight

2J Estimates of the size of the size of this sector vary widely, becauseof differences in definition and difficulties in data collection.

2v Ettema surveyed 1,816 enterprises in 1983 (Journal of Modern AfricanStudies 1984). The USAID READI project surveyed 1,383 enterprises employingfewer than 20 people (and including many that were not registered) in 1986.

u A more detailed discussion of nutrition and health problems generallyand as they relate to women is available in Report No. 7854-MAI Malawi:Human Resource Development Study, April 1990. The Malawi Food SecurityReport (No. 8151-MAI) provides further details on household foodavailability.

w A low weight for height value (below 90 percent of the referencestandard) is referred to as nutritional wasting.

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for height of rural Halawian women was well below 90 percent of the averagefor young US women, although wealthy urban women exceeded that norm(GOMIUNICEF 1987). Beckerson's 1983 study also found that the surveyedwomen's nutritional status was at best marginal even in the post-harvestperiod when food is more readily available.

2.30 The above findings, particularly those on differential weightloss among women and men, suggest that women receive fewer dietary caloriesin relation to requirements when household food supplies are scarce. Thismay be partially due to the common pattern observed in many countries inAfrica and elsewhere, of unequal intra-household food distribution, withmen favored over women and children. It is also attributable to thegreater demands on women for physical labor both on the farm and in child-care and household tasks (para 2.08-2.09). Women working up to twice thenumber of hours worked by men -- 12 hours versus 6 according to thepreviously cited time-use study -- would clearly require substantiallygreater amounts of food to maintain their body weights. Thus, even wherefood is distributed equally among adult household members (men and women),women might be expected to suffer more severely from undernutrition thanmen when the total available food is insufficient.

2.31 In rural Malawi, periods of insufficient food availability at thehousehold level (and consequent undernutrition) are relatively long. Asillustrated in Table 2.10 below and confirmed by several more recentstudies, own food stocks for smaller landholdings tend to be depleted wellbefore harvest. This suggests that FHHs who tend to have smaller-than-average holdings compared with male-headed households are especiallyvulnerable to seasonal food insecurity. The relationship between farm sizeand food availability may not be a direct one, however. Rather, takinginto account that landholdings per capita of FHHs are not significantlydifferent than those of male-headed households, it seems likely that thelabor constraint of many FHHs (para 2.03), may be the underlying cause oflow yields, low income through off-farm labor and attendant nutritionalstress. If this is true, the common pre-harvest coping strategy of sellinglabor to get food may also not be available to FHHs to the same degree,making their situation particularly acute.

Table 2.10Percent of Households Depleting Food Stocks b' Region,Area Under Cultivation and Time of Year for 1980181

Time of Depletion

Cultivated Before Between AfterRegion Area (ha.) September Sept. and Feb. February

Malawi <.7 30 53 16.7-1.49 13 60 28>1.5 5 46 49

All Classes 17 53 30

Source: NSSA/CSR, Page No. 31

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2.32 In several African countries, control of household income by men(usually associated with increasing commercialization of agriculture) hasbeen found to have a negative impact on household nutrition and familywelfare. This does not seem to be the case in Malawi, however. First,specialization by gender between food crops and cash crops does not seem tobe as marked in Malawi as in some other African countries. Although it istrue to a considerable extent that women grow food crops and men grow cashcrops, husbands and wives often help in each other's fields, and asignificant proportion of cash crops are registered to women. Womenconstitute over one-third of coffee growers. Second, Malawian husbands andwives seem to share income to a greater extent than some studies suggestoccurs elsewhere. A recent careful study of 200 samilies in 6 villages inthe Zomba south area found that "the conventional behavior expected ofmarried men is to hand over all or some of their income to their wives ...cases where the enumerators described a husband as keeping all or most ofhis eatnings to himself were considered unusual and unfitting". 2v Thisis corroborated for families ir. another southern area, most of whom werefound to operate a common family purse, and where husbands and wivesapparently had similar expenditure patterns. t6 In these matrilinealsocieties, "in addition to women being perceived in a very real way as"owners of the land' and as bearers of authority in their own village,along with their brothers, there appears to be a strongly held conventionthat income in a conjugal home should be as much the wife's affair as thehusband's, irrespective of how that income was earned". W However, theshare of household income controlled and spent by women fell as income rosefor the sample; the share was smaller for women in male-headed householdsthan in FHH, and less for households that grew tobacco. To a large extentthis reflects gender differences in spending patterns and Engel-curveeffects; women tend to buy the food which falls as a percentage ofexpenditure as income rises, while expenditures on goods and services andmedical care are equally divided, and men spend proportionately more oneducation, transport, agricultural inputs, business costs and drink.

2.33 Disease Burden The very high incidence of communicablediseases, particularly malaria, respiratory infections and gastrointestinalproblems, exacts a substantial toll. a This affects women more thanmen, since they not only suffer illness themselves, but they also bearprincipal responsibility for looking after other household members duringepisodes of illness. This involves considerable time spent away from otherproductive activities in caring for the sick at home and seeking necessaryhealth care from traditional healers or modern health facilities. A round

OJ Peters and Herrera, p34f.

v Janis Evans, unpublished fieldwork results.

UJ Peters and Herrera, op cit, p35.

O" In 1984, the life expectancy at birth of Malawian women was estimated tobe 44.6 years, among the lowest in the world. Only five countries -- Chad,Niger, Sierra Leone, Mauritania and Guinea -- are estimated to have lifeexpectancies at birth equal or lower than that of Malawi, according toWorld Development Report.

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trip to a service delivery point 2-8 km from home is estimated to takebetween 1 and 3 hours in rural Malawi, not including time spent waiting forthe service itself. Distance to clinics (and heavy farming and domesticresponsibilities) are commonly cited by Malawian women as the principalreasons for not seeking medical care or regularly taking their children tothe under-five clinics at health facilities.

2.34 Maternal Health and Family Planning Apart from the risk ofcontracting communicable diseases, another major health risk faced byHalawian women derives from their pattern of childbearing and limitedaccess to contraceptive services. The national total fertility rate forMalawian women is estimated to be extremely high at 7.6 (that is theaverage number of pregnancies and births that women have during theirchild-bearing years). A large number of these pregnancies/births carry ahigh risk of complications or death for one or more of the followingreasons: (a) the mother is either too young or too old to deliver safely(i.e., under 18 or over 35 years); (b) the interval between births is tooshort M/(c) the mother has had four or more prior pregnancies; or (d)the mother is in generally poor physical condition due to undernutrition orill-health. Although about half of all women either desire no morechildren or wish to postpone their next pregnancy Mu, only about aquarter of health facilities (168) offer family planning or child spacingservices, and it is estimated that only about 3 percent of women of child-bearing age uses modern contraception. The GOM has allowed moderncontraceptive services to be offered only since 1986, and service provisionhas grown very slowly, despite the apparent demand from women.

2.35 This contributes to the very high maternal mortality andmorbidity. The maternal mortality rate for women attending health clinicsis estimated to be 170 per 100,000 births and is presumably still higheramong those women who have no contact with the health system. Moreover, itis estimated that for every woman who dies from maternity-relatedcomplications another ten suffer permanent disability. The ramificationsof these high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality are enormous,affecting not only the woman herself but seriously affecting the health andsurvival of her young children as well. Besides unsafe childbearing, otherlikely reasons for the high mortality rate are the still-low levels ofante- and post-natal care, lack of referral (or transport) for high riskcases, and an inadequate 'alarm' and transport system for obstetricalemergencies.

t' The median period between births in Malawi is 32 months which is longenough in many environments to ensure full recovery of the mother.However, in Malawi, poor nutritional status and ill-health during pregnancyand lactation results in the need for a longer-than-average recuperativeperiod between pregnancies.

u Malawi: Family Formation Survey, GOM 1984.

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Education and Training

2.36 Low Female Enrollment and High Illiteracy There is a longhistory of low female enrollment in school, reflected in much higherilliteracy rates among women than men -- 83 percent compared to 56percent. LI Among females over the age of 15, 64 percent have neverattended school; 26 percent have four years or less of primary school; 7percent have more than v years of primary school; and less than 2 percenthave entered secondary school. Although most of the 64,000 people enrolledin the country-wide functional literacy program, which started in 1980 withUNDP-UNESCO assistance, have been women, the program's impact has beenlimited, and illiteracy rates remain much higher among women than men.Enrollment of girls has improved considerably this decade, as Table 2.11shows. The MOEC has built additional secondary school boarding facilitiesfor girls and reserved one third of all secondary and teacher trainingcollege places for girls. Mass appeals have been made to parents throughthe party and radio, and teachers have been instructed to establish adialogue with parents, to encourage them to send their daughters to school.This was a strong concern of a CCAM National Seminar in 1989, and, as afollow-up, in August 1990 NCWID organised a week-long workshop onincreasing access of girls and women to education and trainingopportunities.

Table 2.11

Females as a Percentage of Total Enrollment, Selected Years, 1980-1987

1980 1984 1987

Primary 30 42 44Secondary 20 29 34University 20 21 23Primary Teacher Training 37 37 35

Source: GOM: Education Statistics, 1980, 1984, 1987.

2.37 Almost equal numbers of girls and boys now enter primary school,but drop-out rates for girls are considerably higher than for boys. Theproblem is most acute in rural areas, where girls account for only 20percent of total primary enrollment. Research is underway to try andexplain this, and to decide how to counter it. A reasonable hypothesis isthat income-constrained families who cannot afford to send all of theirchildren to school will take the economically rational decision to investin boys' education, since they have a higher probability of finding wage-employment. In many countries girls are kept home to help with domesticchores. IV Pregnancy accounts for a significant number of drop-outs and

J 1977 census data, refers to persons of 15 years and older.

$' The exceptions are Botswana and Lesotho where boys are kept from schoolto look after livestock, and have lower enrolment than girls.

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expulsions at all levels of education. Another contributing factor - atleast in some areas - seems to be that parents wish their daughters toundergo traditional initiation ceremonies at puberty, to prepare them toparticipate as adults in the community. $u It is difficult for initiatedyoung women to continue at school as they a,e discouraged from ascociatingwith uninitiated children.

2.38 An important reason for relatively low female enrollment at post-primary levels is that boys out-perform girls in the primary school leavingexamination that determines access to secondary school (Table 2.12). Thegender differences in examination scores are quite large (except forChichewa): two-thirds of a standard deviation for science and the generalpaper, and one-third of a standard deviation for English and arithmetic.Such differences far exceed those reported for primary school pupilselsewhere in developing countries. These gender differences are all themore surprising when the likely ability distributions of the male andfemale Standard 8 pupils are considered. Native ability is equallydistributed between the sexes, and equal numbers of boys and girls startschool. However, more than twice as many boys as girls remain in schoolthrough Standard 8 (66,923 boys versus 29,944 girls in 1986/87) and sit theexamination. If the most able pupils complete primary school, then thegirls - as a group - should have higher average ability than the boys, andbetter scores. The opposite outcome suggests that the primary schoolsystem in Malawi is particularly ineffective in teaching girls, or is notretaining the best female pupils, or that the examinations are not goodtests of ability. In many countries, lower expectations tend to be held ofgirl's academic achievement than of boys, and concerted efforts arerequired to remove this distortion. Better incentives such as scholarshipsand performance prizes for girls could help.

Table 2.12Mean Primary School Leaving Examination Results,

by Subject and Gender, 1987

Subject Boys Girls

English 51.7 46.1Arithmetic 51.6 46.3General paper 53.0 43.0Chichewa 51.0 49.7Agriculture 52.7 43.6Science 52.0 42.8Housecraft --- 50.9Needlecraft --- 50.6

Source: Malawi National Examinations Board, 1988.

-u This is the finding of a small research pilot survey carried out in twovillages in Mangochi by A. Kapakasa of the Ministry of Community Services,as part of her doctoral studies and supported in part through a smallresearch grant from the World Bank Africa Region Research Funds. Thefindings are unpublished and have not been reviewed in Malawi, but severalMalawians questioned how widespread these practices are. Inititations arenot encouraged by Government, and few people are willing to discuss them,especially with outsiders.

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2.39 Low enrollment of girls has high costs for development. Educationprofoundly influences behavior related to health and nutritional status andis a very strong determinant of family size. Mothers with primaryeducation tend to have healthier and better nourished children, smallerfamilies, and higher productivity. The impact on productivity is seen inagriculture as well as in other sectors -- more educated farmers in Malawihave been found to have higher yields and to grow a greater diversity ofcrops, all other things being equal, largely because they have much morecontact with the extension service. u The considerable investment andexpenditures on extension services might have a much greater return if morefarmers were educated. This finding is particularly important given thecountry's reliance on agriculture, and that about 70 percent of full-timefarmers are women.

2.40 Limited Participation in Technical/Vocational Programs Femaleparticipation in technical/vocational programs is low, except fortraditional areas such as nursing, teaching and secretarial training.Women number only 30 of the 8,000 trainees in the craft training programwhicli teaches construction skills, and 3 out of 90 students in theterhnical training program which was established in 1985 to provide higherlevel skills. A larger percentage of the trainees in the Hotel Trainingschool are female. Officials explain that girls do not want to apply formost technical/vocational training, and in some cases, a lack of hostelfacilities for women has been a problem. Without further studies, it isnot possible to establish whether or not female applicants tonon-traditional vocational courses meet any specific discrimination.

2.41 A policy of paying "special attention to the training of youth,and women and the disabled and giving them preference in certain areas" hasbeen adopted as part of the manpower planning strategy for the period1987-96, but neither the specific areas nor the mechanisms for theachievement of this goal are specified. The establishment of specialboarding facilities would not alone ensure substantial increases inapplications from women. The educational requirements of technical/vocational training programs need to be reviewed: the current requirementof 10 years of formal schooling for crafts training and 12 years forspecialized technical training is too high to allow the candidacy of morethan a handful of girls. Increasing women's access to vocational and non-formal education and training (such as functional literacy/numeracyprograms) could improve their chances of being successful in the informalmarket, and is consistent with government's emphasis on the promotion ofsmall scale enterprises.

2.42 Changes are also needed in the attitudes of women themselves andin those of employers to give women a better chance of being hired forskilled jobs in a wider range of fields. Gender stereotyping starts early,and continues throughout the education process. Highly segregated labormarkets cause distortions in educational goals; attempts to increase female

W Perraton, Jamison, Jenkins, Orivel and Wclff, 1983, Basic Education andAgricultural Extension, Costs, Effects and Alternatives, IBRD Staff WorkingPaper No. 564, pp.187-195.

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participation in non-traditional technical/vocation training, coupled withjob-placement efforts might be particularly useful in reducing labor marketdiscrimination, and in providing an incentive for increased participationat other levels of education.

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III. EXISTING PROGRAMS AND NEXT STEPS

3.01 During the past decade, the Government, with assistance fromNGOs and external aid agencies (including the World Bank), has begun to tryand ease some of the constraints that make life especially difficult forMalawian women. So far, most things have been done through special womens'programs. These programs have a very important role and have the potentialto be highly effective. However, the broader goal must be to designnational policies and programs that give full recognition to the diversityof roles that women fill -- farmer, employee, entrepreneur, wife, motherand homemaker, student, citizen, and community member -- in order tointegrate women into mainstream development. This will require examiningpolicies and programs and taking appropriate actions at macro and microlevels, within all sectors, to ensure that women are not disadvantaged intheir access to development opportunities.

3.02 With the establishment of NCWID in 1984, the foundations fordeveloping coherent policies/programs to ensure full participation forwomen in development have begun to be laid, but much remains to beachieved. Clear distinctions need to be made among women who differ bysocio-economic characteristics, patterns of production, regional, rural orurban background, etc. The special constraints that women face, and theinterlinkages between them (para 2.01), may cause women to reactdifferently from men. For example, women's time, land, labor and pooraccess to agricultural inputs may prevent them from responding to improvedprice incentives for farmers to increase output; their childcare andhomemaking responsibilities may hinder them from taking advantage of newemployment opportunities; and cultural expectations and attitudes may makefamilies reluctant to allocate scarce resources to the education of girls.Inadequate understanding of these differences may result in unexpectedresponses to policy changes.

3.03 Overall, initiatives already underway are fragmented andproject-oriented. The Ministries of Agriculture, Community Services,Health, and Trade and Industry and a number of NGOs have all receivedfunding for projects for women, many of which have been initiated anddefined by donors (Annex II). There is no comprehensive statement ofdevelopment objectives targeting women -- Devpol u says very littleabout women -- and there is a consequent lack of programming and budgetingat the national and sectoral levels. More systematic gender-specificmonitoring and evaluation of policy, program and project performance isneeded. Progress towards this will require a consolidated effort, in whichthe NCWID, the Malawi Congress Party women's development organization(CCAM) and the Ministry of Local Government have important roles to play.

3.04 This section discusses existing policies and programs as theyrespond to the special constraints faced by women, as discussed in SectionII. In addition to describing in some detail the content, coverage andinstitutional arrangements of these initiatives, an attempt is made tohighlight areas for improvement or increased effort.

av GOM, Statement of Development Policies, 1987-1996.

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Macroeconomic Policies

3.05 Shifts in Emphasis Macro-economic management has been pragmaticin Malawi, and sound policies have always given priority to growth. Untilfairly recently, however, the strategy for achieving growth emphasizedincreasing agricultural exports (tobacco, tea and sugar) and relatedincentives to agricultural estates and surplus-producing farmers -- to thevirtual exclusion of the smallholder sector in which women predominate.While the emphasis on growth and exports has remained steady during thepresent adjustment period, Government has become increasingly aware that inview of land and labor productivity constraints, there is need to place anew emphasis on smaller farmers and on human resource development.

3.06 Policy and programmatic shifts are underway in several sectors,most importantly in agriculture (paras 3.08 - 3.12). Another aspect ofGovernment's new directions for development policy is a shift in budgetaryallocations, to increase the shares going to the social sectors. Largerbudgets would enable ministries such as Health, Community Services andEducation, which have for technical reasons paid more attention to theneeds of women, to expand or intensify current programs targetted to womenand develop appropriate new ones. Finally, there is heightened concernwithin Government for the plight of the poor and for the identification ofpolicies that are most promising in simultaneously addressing both growthand poverty reduction objectives. This is the central focus of the recentCountry Economic Report, "Malawi: Growth through Poverty Reduction" (1990),which was endorsed by Government. In a country as poor as Malawi, there isless conflict between the two objectives than there would be if povertywere confined to a small segment of the population. In fact, about half ofMalawi's population is estimated to be below the poverty line. As shown inSection II, women, and especially FHHs, are disproportionately representedamong the poor.

3.07 Need for Explicit Focus on Women In the Malawian socio-economiccontext, a heightened concern for smallholder productivity, human resourcedevelopment and poverty reduction is to some extent implicitly a concernfor women. An explicit focus on the situation of women would improve thechances of successful programs and policies. Such an explicit focus onwomen in economic analysis and development policy formulation does notimply a view that women can be considered in isolation from the rest of thepopulation, or that policies should be formulated specifically andseparately for men and women. No one has felt the need to call for aspecial focus on men, and it is to be hoped that eventually women will befully integrated in the development process, and that the differences intheir situation will be lessened and no longer overlooked by decisions andpolicies, obviating the need for a 'special initiative' on women.

Agriculture

3.08 Since the early 1980s, in response to the growing recognition ofsmallholder agricultural productivity issues, the Ministry of Agriculture(MOA) has begun making important changes in research emphasis and deliveryof extension services, in part aimed at better targetting of resource-poorfarmers (including women). The key areas of focus are: the development of

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a high-yielding crop varieties suited to the consumption needs of smallfarmers (para 2.12); developing extension messages and agriculturalpractices that respond to the needs and constraints of resource-poorfarmers; modifying the 'training and visit" extension method used so as toreach more farmers; targetting the fertilizer subsidy better; and reducingthe size of seasonal credit packages to bring them within reach of the poor(see paras 3.13-3.16). In addition, options for assisting especiallyvulnerable households to obtain farm inputs and supplementary food to tidethem over the "hungry season' are being tried. All of these initiativesshould significantly benefit rural women, who, as already discussed,predominate in the resource-poor smallholder group.

3.09 Research A major shift in MOA's research program is underwaythat is trying to increase responsiveness to the needs and constraints ofresource-poor farmers. Within this overall objective, the highest priorityneeds to be given to ongoing research efforts to develop a hard endosperm,high-yielding maize variety with the favorable pounding and storagequalities of local maize. Developing a groundnut variety which could beplanted after maize would help relieve planting and weeding bottlenecks.More emphasis needs to be given to inter-cropping with leguminous species,which has a number of benefits: it provides the maize with extra nitrogen,greatly increasing yields; helps control soil erosion and improve soilstructure; provides a source of fuel; improves the soil's ability to retainwater in marginal rainfall areas; and smothers weeds, thus reducing laborcosts; and supplements family food supply and/or farm income.

3.10 Extension Services Many farmers -- particularly women with verysmall landholdings -- still remain outside the reach of the extensionservice. However, since the early 1980s steps have been taken (usually ona trial basis in small areas at first) to make extension messages, servicesand input packages more appropriate to the needs of resource poor farmers,especially women. For example, in a successful initiative in Phalombe in1982/83, achievement of the goal of reaching women farmers with extensionmessages was largely attributed to the use of a problem-solvingparticipatory approach instead of lectures and demonstrations. Thisenabled anxious first-time borrowers to discuss their needs and concernswith the extension staff, to estimate their expected yield increases andplan how they could repay loans. Assisted by the Bank's Benor initiative,extension workers in Mzuzu ADD have been establishing small demonstrationplots on farmers' own fields (in addition to the MOA demonstration plots),a significant proportion of which are on the farms of resource-poor womenwho are less likely to attend scheduled MOA extension meetings. Moresystematic attempts should also be made to use womens' credit clubs, wherethese exist (see paras 3.13-3.16), as channels for disseminatingagricultural extension messages, using participatory teaching techniques tothe extent feasible.

3.11 Farm Inputs Since 1986, the main input (besides seeds) used bysmallholder farmers -- fertilizer -- has been made available in small packswhich are more affordable. There is high demand for these smaller packsfrom poorer farmers (including women). For example, in Phalombe RDP in1988/89, small packs accounted for 22 percent of the total creditdisbursed. Some MOA staff remain skeptical about the credit-worthiness offarmers who are unable to pay cash for small amounts of fertilizer, or who

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are reluctant to take larger amounts of credit. However, the previouslycited experiment in Phalombe in 1982183 which extended very small creditpackages (fertilizer for 0.2-0.4 ha. of local maize) to 520 women foundthat even the poorest women farmers had excellent repayment rates. MOA hasambitious targets for doubling the number of farmers who take agriculturalcredit (usually available in the form of seeds and fertilizer) within thenext 5 years, and is trying to develop better extension methods that willhelp achieve this. The MOA is also trying to devise better ways to targetits existing fertilizer subsidy to poor farmers, who have reduced their useof fertilizer due to recent price increases (para 1.07).

3.12 Seasonal Assistance to Poor Farmers Options for assistingespecially vulnerable households (many of which are headed by women) toobtain farm inputs and supplementary food to tide them over the "hungryseason" are being tried by Government, supported by the Bank, WFP, UNDP andthe EEC. During the dry season, when rural families are not busy on theirfarms, there is very little ganyu work available. In addition to thecommunity self-help construction and other projects that are carried out atthis time, public works programs could provide short-term employment. Ithas been suggested that payment be made in food and fertilizer (and perhapsa cash component), with a forced savings effect achieved by deferring foodand fertilizer delivery until the beginning of the planting season, whenmany families have depleted their food stocks (para 2.31). This might alsohelp to reduce leakages through participants selling the fertilizer insteadof using it on their own fields. Although the administrative andorganizational demands might be formidable at first, this idea deservestesting.

credit and Savings

3.13 Agricultural Credit Since the early 1980s there has beengrowing concern within the MOA about women farmers' limited access tocredit (para 2.14). In 1981, the MOA Farm Home Economics Section whichtaught home management skills to rural women was renamed the Women'sProgram Section, and given a broader mandate to increase women'sparticipation in agricultural programs and services. The FHAs began toencourage women to form groups, which were eligible for credit. A Women'sProgram Officer (WPO) was appointed for each ADD, and posts wereestablished (although generally not filled) for Assistant WPO's in each ADDsub-division, or RDP (Rural Development Program). In 1983, MOA changed thegeneral credit guidelines with the aim of bringing more women into the"mainstream" Farmers Club credit program as independent borrowers. Womenwere encouraged to join farmers clubs and allowed to take creditindependently if they were heads of their own households or wives ofhusbands who were away for most of the year. Women's clubs were allowed toapply for credit without going through the Women's Program. The newguidelines give wives of club members automatic membership, making themeligible for seasonal credit as well. As a result of these changes, thefemale membership in farmers clubs has risen significantly in the past 2-3years (Table 2.5). However, membership is still very low when comparedwith the total number of women smallholders, implying that continued (andintensified) efforts are needed.

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3.14 Other Credit for Rural Women u Sources of capital and creditfor off-farm income-generating activities (paras 3.17-3.21) are scarce. Afew groups have received grants from various foreign embassies but theseare distributed on an ad hoc basis. There are some savings and creditsocieties (for those who can meet the savings requirements) but currentlythis program reaches only a fragment of the rural population and hasminimal participation of women. Recent efforts to make micro loansavailable to women for individual enterprises seem to be a more promisingavenue for reaching the poorest rural women. For example, in 1984/85 theMinistry of Community Services (MOCS), with support from GesellschaftTechnischer Zussammenarbeit (GTZ), put in place a limited program toprovide cash loans to rural women for income-generating projects. About100 credit clubs were established as a subsidiary activity in areas servedby a pilot project operated by the MOCS and funded by German bilateral aid.Each club has 10-15 members and was allocated MK500 from project funds.The membership fee is HK1.5. First loans of MX10 at 5 percent interestwere given unconditionally to each member. Once the first loan had beenrepaid, women became eligible for a MK20 loan. Women used the credit totrade in maize, brew beer, prepare food for sale, and to onlend in smalleramounts and at much higher interest rates. Repayment has been high: in1984/85, the most recent year for which data were available, 100 of 102clubs repaid their loans. MI There seems to be a high potential forexpansion of this Grameen Bank-type of credit scheme, and the new MalawiMudzi Fund is a highly positive step in this direction. The Mudzi Fund hasbeen established with IFAD funds, under the World Bank Smallholder CreditProject. A pilot effort began making loans in Mangochi and Chiradzuludistricts in June 1990, and despite some setbacks, has had a very goodfirst year.

3.15 Savings One reason for lower access to credit of many women(and other poor farmers) is their perceived poor credit-worthiness.Encouraging and helping members of women's groups (or other resource-poorfarmers) to build up small savings would help overcome this perceived poorcredit-worthiness and their own fear of being unable to repay credit. Manyfarmers, especially poor women, are illiterate, may never have handled asavings account or may not have easy access to a post office, and wouldneed assistance and explanations of how savings accounts work. Thecommnity development workers, churches and other NGOs could play animportant role in helping them to open accounts and save, and infacilitating the formation of groups of poorer farmers, which could thenregister with MOA as farmers clubs to be eligible for small input packageson credit.

3.16 One church-run hospital has been working with the local church(assisted by UNICEF) to encourage groups of poor women to save as a meansof improving their access to agricultural credit. The beneficiaries inthis case are members of the church women's groups, but could also be womenattending the maternal and child care or nutrition clinics, or farmers with

W See para 3.32 for details of credit targetted to small and medium scaleenterprises (as distinct from the micro-loans discussed here).

K The Situation of Women and Children, GOM and UNICEF, Lilongwe, 1988.

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gardens of size within a specified range -- say 0.1 - 0.4 hectare, or whohave run out of food stocks by a specified period -- November of Decemberfor example. A modest incentive is provided to each person to open asavings account. Participants form savings clubs, as a basis forregistering as farmers clubs, but maintain individual savings accounts.The ADD staff were consulted as to their willingness to register the newclubs, and to decide on appropriate input packages. These cost in therange of K35-K40, including club registration fees. A trustee accountprovides a mechanism for ensuring that savings accounts are not used forother purposes before payment for the agricultural inputs are due. Thehospital administrator is the trustee, and the saver is unable to makewithdrawals from the savings account without the trustee's signature. Thisscheme has the advantage of being very low cost, and hence couldaccommodate a large number of beneficiaries. The administration/management requirements are modest, and it could be easily replicated byother NGOs. The scheme could greatly contribute to the goals of MOA insubstantially expanding the reach of the extension services to poorerfarmers.

Off-Farm Income Generating Activities

3.17 The MOCS and. to a lesser extent, the Women's Program of MOA,assisted by several donors (UNICEF, GTZ, the Christian Service Committee,World Vision, and Save the Children Federation), are attempting to helpgroups of women to undertake income-generating activities. The MOCSprogram is implemented by two levels of extension agents. There are about600 Home Craft Workers (HCWs) who have the most direct contact with ruralwomen through the homecraft classes they organize and teach. HCWs aresupervised and assisted by 122 female Community Development Assistants(CDAs). It is estimated that the network reaches about 1,700 women'sgroups that include 34,000 group members. Until recently, the MOCS programhad emphasized traditional home economics skills (e.g. home decorating,sewing, childcare, baking), and in many respects was more relevant tobetter-off women or those living in urban environments than to poor ruralwomen. However, in line with Government's new thrust to relieve poverty,MOCS is encouraging HCWs to develop income generating activities with ruralwomen. M The existing homecraft groups are the starting point for theMinistry's nascent program, and tend to consist of wealthier rural womenwho are able to invest the surplus cash, time and labor that participationin the group requires. The promotion of micro-enterprises among thesegroups may well accentuate this trend because, at least in the earlystages, these enterprises will demand even more resources than the sewingand cooking classes.

3.18 The program is greatly hampered by the extension workers' lackof training, transport and other resources, business expertise, and the

MI For more information, see "A Needs Assessment for the Ministry ofCommunity Services' New Program for Promotion of Income Generation forRural Women", December 1989, Population and Human Resources Division,Southern Africa Department, World Bank. Much progress has been made sincethe Needs Assessment was done.

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support that a stronger, more established program might be able to provide.Most groups have tried collective cultivation (maize, groundnuts, beans,other vegetables), tailoring or animal husbandry. These activities dogenerate small profits, but have tended to be pursued more in support ofthe homecraft class than as a new development focus on poverty alleviation.The profits are commonly used to purchase materials (most often cloth forsewing) for the homecraft class resulting in an inefficient mixing ofprogram goals. Women do not take home cash income nor does the groupaccumulate capital that would allow it to expand its productive capacity.There are exceptions to this pattern. A few groups are engaging in similaractivities independently of their homecraft class that have the potentialto expand into small businesses. In several cases the skills for thebusiness were learned in homecraft classes and in this respect, the homeeconomics content of the MOCS Women's Program has played an important rolein women's production potential.

3.19 Through an Italian-funded project, the World Bank's EconomicDevelopment Insitute (EDI) is assisting MOCS's Magomero College to developmethodologies and materials for teaching simple business skills to HCWs andCDAs, so that they may better help rural women start microbusinesses.Case studies have recorded the experiences of numerous women entrepreneurs.The new World Bank Health Sector Project includes a sizeable WID componentwhich is providing support to Magomero College to develop an AppropriateTechnology Center; technical assistance, additional staff, vehicles andtraining for MOCS's WID program; and is introducing innovative income-generating and time-saving activities into 30 pilot villages around thecountry. The activities include bio-gas, hand-operated maize mills,handmade paper, bamboo and palm products and bee-keeping.

3.20 Within MOCS, there is also a longer-standing program to assistrural women establish businesses, supported by GTZ. This program (para3.14) is well endowed and impressive for its technological applications andthe opportunities it provides for poorer women to develop non-traditionaland much needed job skills. The project targets the development of smallbusinesses for women which involve food processing or other applications ofappropriate technology that enable the group to add value to localresources. Established businesses include a groundnut oil press, a diesel-powered maize mill, fish processing, production of cement roofing tiles andfruit juice production. There is, however, some question as toreplicability because of the heavy reliance on expatriate staff (therebyreducing participants' feeling of ownership of their projects) and becausethe program has not been well integrated with other MOCS activities.

3.21 Overall, MOCS investment in building a micro-enterprise programfor women is a risk, given its limited institutional capacity in the area.The strongest reason to pursue such a strategy is need: as smallholders'ability to sustain their families from agriculture erodes, householdsurvival increasingly depends on off-farm labor. In order to develop aviable program the MOCS would have to consider: (a) separating thetraditional home economics activities from the micro-enterprise work toallow for an adequate focus on the latter and avoid the problems describedin para 3.18 above; and (b) replacing current ad hoc efforts with anoverall strategy and comprehensive program design, covering, inter alia,links with other ministries/programs, staff training and development,

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credit, transport and marketing issues, and methodology and workplan fortraining rural women.

Labor-Relieving Programs

3.22 The demands that home and family maintenance make on women'stime and energy limit labor available for income producing activities(paras 2.08-2.10), but can be eased by a wide range of actions. Closeraccess to clean water is important, so are improved rural transportservices, development and diffusion of labor-saving food processingtechnologies and simple agricultural technology, and longer intervalsbetween children and smaller families. With the exception of childbearingpractices which are discussed in paras 3.37-3.38, details of Governmentefforts in these areas are given below.

3.23 Rural Water Supported by several donors, including the Bank,Malawi has built gravity-fed piped water systems in most of the rural areaswhere topographical conditions allow, and sunk boreholes and wellselsewhere. About one-third of the rural population are served by thesesupplies. Village water committees are responsible for maintenance, andalthough the system worked extremely well for a long time, it has developedproblems. The Department of Water has lacked the resources to traincommunities in correct usage and maintenance, or to replace worn-out andbroken taps and pumps, and the free-rider problem seems to be underminingthe commitment of water committees. Appropriate remuneration to thecommittees may be one realistic option for maintaining their commitment andhence, community women's easy access to clean water. In addition,consideration should be given to cointracting rural water maintenance towomen's groups, who are likely to have stronger incentives to maintainwater since their labor is involved in fetching it. This has beenattempted with reasonable success in other African countries, e.g. Ghana.

3.24 In addition to ensuring maintenance of existing clean watersources, continued high priority should be given to extending the coverageof the program to other rural communities. Moreover, bearing in mindwomen's labor and income constraints, to the extent that community laborcan be involved in construction, attempts should be made to: provideappropriate remuneration in cash or food for construction work; encouragewomen's involvement in conatruction (using gender quotas if necessary);and, to the extent feasible, schedule rural water construction work duringfarming slack periods.

3.25 Puelwood There are significant regional imbalances in thesupply and demand of firewood in Malawi -- population is concentrated inthe Southern and Central Regions while most forests are in the lesspopulated North. In the former two regions, therefore, firewood has beenin increasingly short supply (exacerbated by rapid population growth),requiring increasing time and energy from rural women to collect fuelwood.In response, and with assistance from the Bank-financed Wood Energy II andEnergy I projects, since 1986 the Government has been implementing acomprehensive program designed to promote tree planting by bothsmallholders and commercial users, inter alia through provision ofsubsidized seedlings, extension services and tree-planting incentive

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payments, and pricing reform, including substantial increases in woodprices for non-household uses. These measures should help halt the declinein wood availability in the short-run (through encouraging more efficientuse) and increase wood supply in the longer run, thus preventing anyworsening of (and eventually improving) rural women's access to firewood.In addition, aspects of the program which provide incentives and extensionadvice to smallholders for developing woodlots could prove a source ofincremental income to some rural women provided care is taken to monitorand encourge the participation of FHHs and other women farmers in thescheme. The degree to which women are already involved is not known, butshould be studied carefully (including determining reasons for non-participation, if this is found to be the case).

3.26 Another aspect of reducing the time and labor women spend ingathering firewood is to develop and disseminate improved stoves that aremore energy-efficient than the traditional ones currently in use. A smallproject is manufacturing and marketing energy-efficient, simple stoves.These "giko' stoves are proving popular with urban women, and are a goodincome source to the women who manufacture their ceramic liners. Effortsto introduce the giko and other improved stoves in rural areas have notbeen very successful, because they failed to take into account that thestoves lacked the other functions of fires: providing light and warmth (aswell as cooking heat). More careful testing and soliciting of Malawianrural women's requirements and ideas is clearly needed. The Energy Projectintends to modify the giko for rural use. It might make sense to adaptsuccessful stove designs developed for rural use in other African countries(e.g., in Tanzania's UNICEF-supported Iringa project).

3.27 Transport and Mobility While there is little doubt that thetransport needs of rural women are great (based on what is known of women'swork and household responsibilities and experience in other comparableAfrican countries), little is known of Malawian women's effective demandfor various transport options. A thorough assessment of rural transportneeds is required and should be grounded in careful analysis of householdfactors associated with transport requirements, including ability to pay.In the absence of such information, it is difficult to estimate likelydemand for and developmental impact of expanded rural transport services orlarge-scale manufacturing of transport aids. It is planned that theGovernment, with assistance from the ILO, would undertake a detailed,gender-specific, study of transport/travel and "headloading" practices ofrural Malawian households, which should be an important step in determiningtransport demand and economic costs of under-investment in rural transportinfrastructure. In addition, given the poverty of the majority of ruralhouseholds, options for increasing the affordability of rural transportalso deserve careful consideration.

3.28 The Government, supported by the ILO and the Bank, has discusseddeveloping a pilot integrated rural transport project to be implemented inone district in each of Malawi's three regions. The idea is to increasethe availability of non-motorized wheeled vehicles, upgrade rural tracksand trails and identify non-transport interventions such as improved watersupply and crop storage facilities which could reduce transport costs forrural households. The target beneficiaries would be smallholder farmers(men and women) living within the radius of influence of selected rural

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market centers and special consideration would be given to the target sub-groups of small-scale entrepreneurs, female headed households and thevirtually landless (presently engaged in casual porterage). The projectwould also include an institution-building component designed to develop arural transport planning process at the district level. It would also bepossible and very useful to evaluate the total transport demands of ruralMalawian households through a baseline survey and continuous monitoring ofthe impact of project interventions.

3.29 Food Processing Technology Some attempts have been made todevelop affordable and simple time- and energy-saving devices that wouldease the serious constraints on women's time and labor. For example, ahand-operated maize sheller has been developed by the Farm Machinery Unitat Chitedze Research Station. w Output using the sheller is 30-50kilograms per hour, three times the rate for hand shelling. Work is alsobeing done to develop a hand operated groundnut sheller, although theirregular shape of the commonly grown Chalimbana variety complicates theproblem. The technology teams need to liaise with MOA and ADHARC'smarketing experts so that effort is not wasted on a machine suited to avariety that is not readily marketable, and so that MOA can promotevarieties that are more amenable to mechanical shelling. The GTZ/MOCSproject is working on improved designs for ox-carts, and efforts areunderway to develop a local version of a hand-powered German groundnut oilextractor, but the projected cost (at least MK 30,000) will be prohibitivefor rural households. Other models need to be considered; for example,Tanzania produces a less expensive 'ghani" oil press, designed like a giantmortar with a rotary weight-loaded pestle that produces a liter of oil anhour, that might be a more suitable prototype.

3.30 MOCS commissioned a study of needs and opportunities for foodprocessing technology, carried out in 1988 with assistance fromUNIFEM. MI A survey of 300 women in three districts, one from eachregion, was carried out. The report made several suggestions for promisingtechnologies. The most interesting idea was a simple solar dryer thatcould be used for drying vegetables, fish or cassava. The design is simpleand cheap; a wooden A-frame with a plastic sheeting covering which wouldconcentrate the sun's rays, speed up drying time hence reducing mould andfungal growth and increasing nutrient content while protecting the foodfrom contamination and infestation by fecal dust and parasite eggs. Theprototype has been tested at Bunda College, and found to improve food tasteand color as well. The study also noted that there were a limited numberof power-driven maize and cassava mills (mostly owned by men) that could beprovided as business opportunities for groups of women, if they could be

lu The sheller consists of two cylinders. The inner-toothed one isrevolved by a crank handle. The sheller is welded to a small mounting pad.It is durable, easy to use, made of readily available materials and can bemade in different sizes for different maize varieties. The price (about MK150) is out of reach of most individual women, but a group might be able tobuy one together, and rent it out to other women.

u "Women and Food Processing in Malawi", R. Mkandawire, J.Asiedu andB.Mtimuni, (Project MLW/87/WOI).

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helped to raise the capital and trained in operation, maintenance andsimple business skills. A project proposal to act on some of the report'srecommendations was formulated, but implementation has not begun.

3.31 Much more attention needs to be given to the development oradaptation of labor-saving household technologies and to their (fidedissemination in rural Malawi. This would help relieve the shortage oflabor that is a major constraint on the income earning potential of womenfarmers, especially FHHs (paras 2.03 - 2.10). Local achievements andefforts to develop simple inexpensive labor-saving technology need to bepublicized better and supported, with priority given to testing, producingand marketing the best results. The experience and technologies availablein other countries need to be better investigated, and adapted and adoptedwhere appropriate for Malawi. The MOCS has begun to do this under aspecial grant from the World Bank. Also, there is a need for aninstitutional focal point within Government to coordinate developmentactivities in this area and to assist with the dissemination oftechnologies once available.

Wage Employment

3.32 Thus far, Government has given little attention to developingpolicies or programs to improve the participation of women in the formalsector. Given the relatively small proportion of women in wage employmentand the fact that many in formal non-agricultural employment haverelatively privileged backgrounds, it may be rational to focus first on thesituation of poor rural women as the Government has tended to do. However,to the extent that gender discrimination is not based on productivitydifferences and has inefficiency costs, there may be justification inmoving to enact legislation to prohibit discrimination as many developedand developing countries have done. While enforcement is likely to becostly and difficult, such legislation can be an important signal toemployers that the Government is committed to equitable treatment of womenworkers. A second area in which improvement is possible is in the hiringof workers for public works projects, particularly in rural areas. Asdiscussed in para 3.24 above, efforts should be made to allow women equalaccess to a range of construction work, if necessary through theestablishment of quotas. Government actions to improve female enrollmentthroughout the education system (see para 3.40) should also help increasewomen's access to formal sector jobs.

The Informal Sector

3.33 Several of the institutions that provide credit and/or othertechnical and business advisory services and training to small-scaleentrepreneurs are trying to reach more women. Nearly one-third of theloans extended by the Small Enterprise Development Organisation of Malawi(SEDOM) are to women, although these account for less than 10 percent ofthe total funds lent. INDEFUND, which provides much larger loans rangingfrom MK1O,000 to MK75,000, lends to a very much smaller percentage ofwomen, and has recently set up a women's program. The Development ofMalawian Traders' Trust (DEMATT) launched a women's program in July 1989,

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with the aim of increasing the proportion of its clients who are women wellbeyond the 10 percent achieved by 1990. Women's World Banking of Malawiregistered in early 1990, and in 1991, an enterprising Malawian womanstarted a National Association of Business Women to provide support andtraining, and help to improve access to capital. These developments aretaking place in a fairly supportive environment, which derives fromGovernment's reliance on expansion of the small-scale sector (formal andinformal) as crucial to increasing employment and raising income levels.Government would like to see more financial and technical assistance goingto this sector, and is reviewing regulations, rules and practices thataffect and inhibit the sector.

Nutrition and Food Availability

3.34 Aside from the initiatives being undertaken within agricultureand other sectors to increase household food production and incomes,Government is also providing direct nutritional support to malnourishedmothers and children through the health care system. A WFP-supportedsupplemental feeding program is now operating at all health facilitiesmanaged by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and by the Private HospitalAssociation of Malawi (PHAM). Under the program, children, hospital in-patients and women in ante- and post-natal programs identified asmalnourished or otherwise at-risk are provided special rations consistingof maize meal, dried whole milk and vegetable oil to supplement theirnormal diets. However, the program's coverage is limited by the attendanceat health facilities. In addition, iron and folic acid supplements aredistributed to all women receiving ante-natal care and there are plans toprovide Vitamin A supplements to every mother delivering at a maternityfacility. With World Bank and UNICEF support, nutrition education is alsoprovided to women when they bring children in to clinics for well-babyvisits and growth monitoring.

3.35 The MOH and MOLG, supported by the Bank, UNDP, UNICEF and WFP,have also introduced an integrated program to improve food security andnutrition of targeted vulnerable households, by delivering subsidizedfertilizer and seeds and food. A relatively succesful experimentalinitiative has been implemented by a PHAM hospital for several years. Thetarget beneficiaries of the program pilot are poor farming families withseverely malnourished children under five, who neither grow enough nor areable to buy adequate additional food, and have little option but to doganyu labor during the peak agricultural season. Beneficiary families areselected by health workers and community leaders, from among clients of thenutrition and supplemental feeding clinics. Many are FHHs not receivingsignificant transfers. Fertilizer, improved maize seed and seeds forinter-cropping are provided. These families tend to have had little or noprior contact with the agricultural extensive service, and no experience ofgrowing improved maize varieties, so MOA extension staff need to ensurethat the farmers understand how and when to plant and apply the basaldressing of fertilizer. Once that is done, families receive a family foodration, so that they do not have to leave their own fields to do ganyulabor. Conditional upon properly applying the inputs, the families receivetop-dressing fertilizer and a second food ration.

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3.36 The outcome in terms of farm output and family nutrition needsto be carefully monitored. One-off subsidized input packages should raiseyields significantly, and the demonstration effect is likely to be strong.Participating farmers need to be encouraged to form credit clubs. Theircontact with the agricultural extension network and experience withimproved seeds should give them the confidence and knowledge to useseasonal credit to obtain fertilizer in subsequent years, so that theirimproved food supply can be maintained. Because the ultimate goal is toincrease self-sufficiency of rural women, and to avoid encouraging welfaredependence, its potential for wide-spread application is relatively high.If, after careful monitoring over two or three years, this approach appearsto be effective, replicable and affordable, high priority should be givento its broad expansion.

Maternal Health and Child Spacing

3.37 Access to Health Care Since 1982-83, Government has paidincreasing attention to maternal health issues, making maternal and childhealth services, including child-spacing services the center-piece of itsprimary health care (PHC) effort. With donor assistance, the number ofrural PHC facilities (including mobile clinics) has been increasedconsiderably, reducing the distance many women must walk for care. TheUNICEF-supported expanded program of immunization has reached more than 80percent of children -- the resulting reduction in childhood diseases willrelieve the claims that sick children make on their mothers in addition tobenefiting the children themselves. Strongly supported by the UnitedNations Family Planning Association, UNICEF and the World Bank (throughthree Health Projects since 1983), the health system has made rapidprogress in increasing women's utilization of ante-natal and deliveryservices. Ministry of Health data indicate that over four out of fivewomen now have at least one antenatal visit and on average they have morethan three visits. In addition, it is estimated that about half of allbirths take place either in a health facility or under the supervision of atrained person, usually a Traditional Birth Attendant. Also noteworthy isthe increase in access to child-spacing services, although coverage anduse-rates are still very low (para 2.35). As noted in para. 2.36, maternalmortality and morbidity are still extraordinarily high, indicating the needfor continued improvements in health and child-spacing services.

3.38 Child-spacing Services Child-spacing is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing maternal mortality and also has implications forthe demands on women's time and energy. The main emphasis in programdevelopment should be to improve access to contraceptive services. Thiswould involve: (a) phasing and accelerating training so that at least onestaffperson at each and every health care facility can offer non-clinicalcontraceptive methods; (b) broadening the criteria for the use of variouscontraceptive methods (the present stringent age and parity restriction onthe use of some methods are inappropriate, given that the mortality risksof pregnancy far outweigh the health risks of contraception); (c)increasing awareness of the problems associated with high fertility and thehealth risks of frequent pregnancies, births outside the "safe motherhood"age range (18-35 years) ard inadequately-spaced births by delivering moreeducation and information through schools, the media, workshops and

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seminars, health workers, NGOs and political, community and church leaders;and (d) accelerating introduction of community-based distribution ofcontraceptives and of provision of information and education through themedia, suitable NGOs (such as the recently-established Family WelfareAssociation) and field staff of non-health ministries including the MOCSand the MOA. MOH is moving ahead on several of these fronts.

3.39 Care of High-Risk Pregnancies Apart from strengthening child-spacing services, improvements are needed in the system for referral andcare of high-risk pregnancies. This would require that high-risk women beidentified as early as possible in pregnancy and that good community levelante-natal care be complemented by good access to obstetrical care atfirst-referral level, where assistance from trained personnel, Caesariansections and blood transfusions are available. In addition, an effectivesystem to communicate need for and prompt provision of transport is needed.This would cost roughly US$ 2 per capita, probably too much for Malawi tospend in the short-run, given severe budgetary constraints. Improvementsnevertheless would be possible by using such approaches as the maternityvillage, in which women with high risk pregnancies stay at low-costshelters near referral facilities to await onset of labor.

Education and Training

3.40 General Education The Government's efforts to increase thenumber of places at all levels of the education system, and to improveschool quality through a comprehensive reform program which began in 1985,benefit girls in proportion to their enrollment share, i.e., something lessthan boys. av However, several steps have been taken to improveenrollment rates of girls. Fees in the first four primary standards are tobe phased out, which will benefit girls, particularly if poor families givelower priority to educating girls. One third of places in secondaryschools and in primary school teacher training colleges are now reservedfor girls. The MOEC has an ambitious research project underway toinvestigate the determinants of school quality and educational attainment,that may help to explain why girls do not perform as well, on average, asboys. As part of the project, specific research is underway into thereasons why girls have such high dropout rates. The research on dropoutand school achievement of girls is of high priority, and any feasible andaffordable actions to address these problems to which the research resultspoint, should be implemented without delay. If pregnancy is the reason whymany girls drop out of school, Government should consider allowing young

The reform program includes policy changes to reduce primary schooldropout and repetition rates and to improve the fee structure, betterteacher training and supervision, provision of more and better text booksand other learning aids, revision of the curriculum and detailed researchinto the determinants of school quality which should help to guide futuredecisions. Further details are given in the staff appraisal report of the'Malawi: Second Education Sector Credit", Report No. 7734-HAI, July 1989.

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mothers to reenter the education system after the baby's birth. gvImmediate consideration should also be given to introducing specialincentives for better school achievement -- bursaries and performanceprizes -- for girls.

3.41 Non-formal Education Given present high illiteracy rates amongadult women, non-formal adult literacy and numeracy programs areparticularly important. The adult literacy program had flagged during the19708. In 1981, however, the MOCS (supported by UNICEF) began a newimpetus -- the National Adult Literacy Program, targeted primarily towomen, out-of-school youth and young adults. Full coverage of all ruralareas is intended in different phases, and 160 new CDAs are being trainedas instructors each year. The Program is intended to reach more than 2million people by 1995. Substantial resources have been budgeted forprogram implementation. To ensure high returns to these resources, and tothe considerable investment of participants' scarce time, the Programshould be carefully monitored, looking particularly at skill retentionrates and the functional content of the literacy materials. The materialsshould provide women with critical information, especially with regard tofamily planning practices, new opportunities, such as new credit programslike the Mudzi Fund and the availability of smaller, more affordableagricultural input credit packages. This will require periodic revision ofthe basic reading materials, production of supplementary materials andshort in-service training of field staff in their use; and bettercoordination among the Literacy Program and other government agencies whohave information to be disseminated.

3.42 Communications media other than reading materials could also beused more to educate women on a variety of topics relevant to their lives.Better use of radio is one potential avenue. There is one radio station,with plans for a second (and some discussion about introducing television,although this would be expensive and reaching relatively few people). The1977 census estimated that 17 percent of households owned radios. This lownumber and the prohibitive price and poor quality of batteries limitlistenership. However, access to solar powered or mechanicallyrechargeable radios could be provided to groups of rural women throughcredit clubs, homecraft groups, churches, schools $U etc. Programmingcould be improved through training in communication skills for Ministrystaff responsible for program development. There has been little concernwith gender specificity in communication strategies to help developmentstaff reach women (and men) more effectively, and little systematicevaluation of the success and impact of radio programs or other non-formaltraining efforts.

^2 This is one of the recomendations of a workshop on "Increasing Accessof Girls and Women in Education and Training" held by NCWID and MOEC inJuly 1990. A workshop report (Ref. IN/2/15/Vol.IV) was produced by MOEC.

WU Most schools' radios are out of order or out of batteries, but thereare plans to remedy this as one component of the IDA Second EducationSector Credit for Malawi, which became effective in April 1990.

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Institutional Arrangements for Women in Development

3.43 National Commission on Women in Development The NCWID wasestablished in 1984 after a 1982 UN-funded seminar to discuss nationalmachinery for the integration of women in development. It is chaired bythe MOCS. Membership includes Ministry and University representatives,CCAM, parastatals, religious organizations, NGOs and PVOs. Sevencommittees have been formed to focus on different areas, and there is aGovernment-dominated Executive Board (Annex III, Figures 1 and 2). NCWIDhas a coordinating and catalytic role. The specific objectives it has setfor itself are to: (a) assist in the establishment of institutions toformulate, implement and monitor women's programs; (b) coordinate all womenin development (WID) programs; (c) promote awareness of opportunitiesprovided by the government to women; and (d) evaluate the contribution thatwomen make to development. In addition, the committees have formulatedtheir own specific objectives and agenda; for example, the committee onSmall and Medium-Scale Industries aims to ensure that women become moreaware of the availability of credit, training, and marketing opportunitiesand is working towards creating an affiliate to Women's World Banking.

3.44 The Commission has formulated and initiated research agendas,convened meetings and workshops, and contributed to discussions and plansfor various activities, including the recent decision to introduce familylife education in schools and the establishment of the National FamilyWelfare Council. iM Although there is considerable commitment byindividual members and the leadership, and much progress has been made,several things undermine NCWID's effectiveness: (a) there is limitedinstitutional capacity in many Ministries to deal with WID issues in asystematic manner (MOCS and MOA Women's Program are obvious exceptions).Many representatives are willing but lack resources; (b) the Commissionitself lacks resources; (c) it is not clear how some of the objectives ofthe NCWID are to be met - for instance, there are no set procedures andactions for coordination, which weakens NCWID's ability to preventduplication of donor efforts targeted to women; and (d) the Secretariat isadministratively part of MOCS and cannot raise and administer fundsindependently. This has positive aspects, but may prevent the NCWID frombeing fully recognized as a national entity in its own right with its ownresources and responsibilities.

3.45 Although some countries have decided to establish separateministries for women's affairs, in Malawi, strengthening NCWID would be abetter strategy -- less costly, and more likely to facilitate theintegration of gender concerns in all mainstream sector activities.However, NCWID should be strengthened through strengthening its links withthe Ministry of Finance (MOP) and Economic Planning and Development and

4v For example, the committee on Education and Training has sponsoredresearch on female attrition from secondary school, and the committee onFamily Health and Welfare has formulated research proposals dealing withpsychiatric problems among women, and with decision-making in the contextof family health. The Legal committee reviewed the Country Report draftedby the MOCS and submitted to the UN Committee for the Convention on theElimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

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through appointment of one or more full-time staff to its Secretariat. Inaddition, NCWID should consider maintaining an up-to-date list of allactivities (projects, programs, research etc.) targetted specifically towomen, and work through its members to encourage line ministries to defineobjectives in a gender-specific way. If feasible, Ministry representativesto NCWID should be released from some of their other responsibilities toenable them to do more to promote women's issues within their Ministries.

3.46 CCAM CCAM was established in 1985 as a women's developmentorganization under the umbrella of the Malawi Congress Party, distinct fromthe Women's League of tne Party (WL), which has long existed. CCAM isunusual in providing a strong potential women's political institution, (theclose proximity of the CCAM office to those of the Life President and theSecretary to the President and Cabinet is an indication of its status).There are CCAM committees in each of the 24 districts in the country, thechaired of each also chairs the district WL committee. CCAM sees itself asa 'tool for mobilizing women, for example encouraging them to grow morecrops for themselves and for funds for the organization'. 1W Inaddition to the money raised through nation-wide activities, CCAM hasreceived funding from some donors, private sector businesses and employees,and other organizations.

3.47 CCAM has the clear advantages of access to a well-organizedcountry-wide Party network, and of being in a very strong position to raisefunds. Initially, CCAM focused on charitable causes. More recently itsefforts have been directed at income-generation activities (iga) by ruralwomen's groups. Trainir.g seminars have been held in which MOCS staff haveparticipated, feasibility studies have been completed for 3 areas, and aproject officer and economist hired. However, CCAM's focus on iga is thethird separate initiative in this area (paras 3.17 to 3.21 describe theMOCS and MOA programs). It has some strengths that the MOCS and MOA lack,but there are disadvantages to having another duplicative program. Thereis also the possibility (although Ministry and CCAM officials disagree) ofa blurring of political and developmental agendas.

3.48 CCAM is making a special effort to highlight its work andwomen's issues in the media, and succeeds in attracting public attention tothe needs of vulnerable women. Given the political strength of CCAM andthe strong communication skills of its management and senior staff,strengthening CCAM with a technical specialist in development supportcommunication could significantly improve their input to both written mediaand to broadcasting. More could be done through CCAM's media coverage toprovide development support for women by equipping them with informationthat would improve their access to opportunities available within thesystem, and helping counter stereosyped preconceptions of women.

3.49 Women in Government Women's participation in national policy-making and planning is limited by the extremely small numbers of women inhigh level Government jobs, especially outside the traditional "feminine"areas such as welfare, home economics, health and education. Two PrincipalSecretaries (PS) are women - the PS of MOCS, who chairs the National

v Mission interview with CCAM PS and National Coordinator.

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Commission on Women in Development, and the PS who heads CCAM within theOffice of the President and Cabinet. MOH, MOCS, and MOEC have severalrelatively senior women professionals, and there is one woman at next-to-PSlevel in MOA. Only fourteen of the 112 Members of Parliament are women.

3.50 Women are very poorly represented in local government. In 1984,89 percent of the 548 Local Councillors were men, 7 percent of seats werevacant and only 5 percent were filled by women (most in the southern andcentral regions). I The balance was slightly better in Urban Councilsthan in (rural) District Councils, with 17 percent of women councillors,and about the same in the District Development Councils. Educationalrequirements are a barrier to election for most women. Women civilservants, who are likely to be more educated, may not serve. There is amuch stronger presence of women in village committees (although this variesby area and committee function). Low representation of women in localgovernment and among party executives militates against consideration ofgender issues in decision-making, reduces the chance that women will learnof opportunities open to them, and reinforces the perception that womencannot attain or are unsuited for positions of policy influence.

WID Information Base

3.51 A rich body of gender-;pecific data and research exists forMalawi, although it takes time ad effort to find it. i- EspeciallyImpressive are the MOEC annual statistics, and the availability ofagricultural data by gender of the household head, both routine annuallycollected data and the 1980?81 National Agricultural Survey. The 1987census is a rich potential source of data, but processing and publicationhas been slow. MOCS has commissioned several key pieces of research,including a study to identify how improvements in food processingtechnology could free more time and energy for women's productiveactivities. However, much of the existing data and information is notreadily available, its existence is not widely known, and there are someinconsistencies and gaps. Some Ministries do not distinguish by gender intheir data collection. The National Research Council of Malawi (whichcoordinates and approves all research) plans to establish a computerizednational documentation center with UNESCO assistance, but does not intendto include women in development as a separate information category;instead, the establishment of a separate WID documentation center is

IV This is quite comparable for other African countries. M.S. Shaul,1981, The Status of Women in Local Government Around the World,International Union of L.ocal Authorities, The Hague, reported percentagesof women councillors in 1979s Morocco and Rwanda, less than 1 percent;Ivory Coast 1.3 percent; Tunisia, Cameroon and Togo, 5-6 percent; CapeVerde 7 percent, Burkina Faso 8 percent, and Sierra Leone 15.6 percent.Greece, France and Luxembourg were in the same range, UK was 17 percent andFinland 24 percent.

lu See Annex IV and the Bibliography of Resources Held at Bunda College ofAgriculture, by C.W.P.Kishindo, 1986, Bunda College, Lilongwe (copyavailable from the author of this report on request).

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planned under a UNDP/FAO project. All NCWID members should contribute tothe establishment and continual updating of the proposed documentationcenter, which should be easily accessible to government, donor and otheragency staff, and researchers.

3.52 There is a clear need for better socio-economic baseline datafor projects targeted to women. However, this should not be interpreted asprimarily a need for more research to be done by outsiders and publishedoutside Malawi. It would be much more useful to draw on local professionalexpertise, and to use participatory and problem-oriented research methodsthat involve local women themselves. This would generate a much betterunderstanding of the problems and needs of specific groups of women, andprovide a sounder basis for designing projects and programs.

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ANNEX IPage 1 of 4

STATISTICAL ANNEX

Table lt Selected Population Densities in Sub-Saharan Africa

Population Density - Arable Land Per Capita------Country (PersonslSs.km) Total Population Rural Population

Cameroon (1986) 22.4 3.34 5.23Tanzania (1988) 26.0 2.2 2.59Senegal (1985) 26.0 1.6 2.42Kenya (1985) 36.0 0.7 0.86Nigeria (1985) 107.0 0.71 1.01Malawi (1987) 85.0 0.67 0.76

Source: Lele and Stone 1989, p.63

Table 2: Women Working on their Own Holdings, 1966 and 1977

Females as Percent Average Annualof Employment Group Growth Rates (S)

1966 1977 Female Male Both

Full year (10-12 months)62 69 2.1 -1.4 0.9

Part year (1-9 months) 8 24 27.8 11.0 11.9

Source: Government of Malawi and UNICEF, The Situation of Women andChildren in Malawi, September 1987, Lllongwe, Malawi, p.33.

- Tobl. 8: AD Agricultural Sesonal Crodit by Gender, 1986/67 -19e/8S

1986/87 e197/b 1 ersh9ADD Clubs Membership of wieb t Clubs 1967/8 p of which: Clubs Y_brship of which:

1e110 woo" Xemei M. e 3 vm i wen Ih Wo_mn X *o_en

Karonga 614 9,422 6,656 2,707 29.43i S8 9,068 ,0333 2,726 86.1x I s 9,565 6,689 2,686 ".eMUzu 496 14,MG 16,167 3,863 27.6 I 776 21,947 14,151 7,196 32.3 I 622 21,381 14,923 0,465 8.2Xh*usu 2,662 02,215 45,066 1S,260 29.8X 2,141 6S,76 40,984 17,626 .3a3x 2,195 60,865 46,695 19.765 86.6Lilongwe 2,321 65.747 53,730 12,69 30.33 2,583 76,461 9.9911 15,406 26.5X 2,666 113,222 96,678 22,044 26.63sallm 662 11,664 0,20 1,084 16.23 640 12.400 16,66 2,424 16. C% 1,621 26.656 15,762 4,204 21.43Lhwondd 91 19,656 16,717 5,89 28.6 1,013 24,961 10,721 3,246 88.0X j 1,418 32,926 22.61 10,86 8.63XBlantyre 681 18,622 16,273 6,249 44.65 1,069 8U,766 £6,347 17,419 .6 ex 1,329 42,674 29,617 21,467 61.6xIgabu 419 6,367 0,06s 834 5.23i 418 7,63U 5,612 1,223 174 4 446 7,co 0,225 1,27C 17.1

Total 0,45 2W6,469 163,066 52,501 25.4X 9 0,129 248,460 176,920 72,543 29.8X I 11,569 312,584 222,96 89,614 23.1X

Sources MOA

, I

Table 4: Uhemploymeot Not., by Gender, Education, and Urban/Rurol, 190

___- - --- 1fel -------- -------F vslos---------u!cetim All Rural Urben All Rural Urbon

No Schooling 2.0 2.7 0.2 1.1 1.0 4.7Primary 2.0 2.6 S.9 1.1 6.9 6.1 IVSecondary 4.2 4.6 8.3 6.7 6.4 7.0Univoersity 9.4 0.7 0.3 6.7 1.2 0..

Sources 1977 Census, lSO '1

- 4 5 MANNEX IPage 3 of 4

TABLE 5

l1rathv Pe uitap of Mt1es d FOIes h

Percetage Permtaof of hn

Profoesas l ud Tednical 74.4 25.6

dlnistrative wd Manal 96.1 4.9

Clerlcal 87.1 12.6

Sales ml1 19 9

Servics 812 18

Ai.itire 47.7 52.0

proWtlaVTrrcwt aer S03 9.7

bissif led S3u

Source 1977 Cas of Pcuiatlon

TABLE 6

OxmIIIPattmm f f ml1k

prcentae Percentag

professinal d Tednical 1.7 0.7

AdministratIve ad Mangerial 0.1 00

Clerial t21 04

Sales 34 1.0

Services 3. 08

Agriculture 73.9 942

Procbxtlarransvort laboLrer 131 1.8

hciassJf led 23 1.3

Souce: 1977 Co of Pmuatiln

-46- .L( 1 ~~T:~vw 'I L 3! 99Q-46 - Annex I

TUESOAYJULY31 1990 ETABLISHED19 --- age 4 of 4

Women's access toeducation low...--;:-

00 eImplications' 'dotly

WOMEN's access to education at all levels women and their inte- workshop is to come upin the country is generally low, and impli- gration in the mainstream with ways of making thecations are that the society and the econ- of development. girls, women and the gen-

She also thanked the eral Mala*ian publicomy annually incur high opportunity costs Usaid for funding the aware of the training op-in various academic and developmental workshop and expressed portunities available inareas. the hope that the agency the country and abroad,

and other donors would she said.The chairlady of the from continue to assist the ef-

National Commission of Malawi News forts directed towards ACTIONWomen in Development. A women. Mrs. Kalyati said theMrs. Esnath Kalyati, said Agency Giving a brief back- workshop is also analysingthis yesterdap at LitonCowe around of the workshop. factors that contribute to

nhe Ctyt the Ministry of Com- the chairlady explained the inadequate femaleShe was opening a five- muiitY Services. ex- that it was a follow-up to a participation in such train-

day national workshop on plained that "womens - m8 pro&rammes aswell as'Increasing the Access Of productive capacity is national seminar organ- ing asuwelliasGirls nd Woen toEdu- onstrined ince hey ~ ised by the CCAM in Li- evaluating counsellingGiris and Womern to Edu- constrained since they do longwe last year. and career guidance ser-cation and Training Op- not have the appropriate * vices available and makeportunities in Mala*i'. training and skills (to en- She said at the seminar recommendations for im-

PARTICIPANTS able them] to participate participants expressed provement of such ser-and contribute fully in key deep concern over low vices.

The workshop, which sectors of the economy participation of girls in She said the workshophas been organised by the like agriculture, industry education and training op- will also draw up a con-commission, is being at- orbusiness." portunities in the country. crete plan ot action tortended by about 4f par- She therefore called on PROBLEMS consideration, implemen-

Ministry of Education and participants in the She said her commis- tation, monitoring andCulture, the University of workshop to be very se- sion was therefore urged, evaluation by the govern-Malawvi, the Ministry of rious in their discussions in liaison with the Minis- ment.Community Services, the and come up with realis- try of Education and Cul-Chitukuko Cha Amai tic, specific. action-onen- ture, to look into the Speaking earlier. them'Mala*i (CCAM), and ted and implementable problems of school drop- Usaid mission director inrepresentatives from the recommendations. outsamonggirls. Mala*i, Miss Carol Peas-recommendatins. outs amng girls.icy, assured the Nationalwomen's commission. HOPE She said the present Commission of Women'

Donor agencies. which Mrs. Kalyati workshop is therefore Development that her or-include Unicef, Usaid, thanked His Excellency identifying and discussing ganisation would continueUNDP, UNFPA. and the the Life President, Ng- cultural, social and econ- supporting activities de-World Bank, are also rep- wazi Dr. H. Kamuzu omic problems faced by signed to enhance the par-resented at the meeting. Banda, for his support girls and women in educa- ticipation of women in de-

Mrs. Kalyati, who is and encouragement to- tion and training- velopment.also principal secretary in wards the advancement of In the end, the

.zswz=~ ication and Culture, Dr.

Isaac Lamba, on his partcommended the commis-sion for organising theworkshop.

AnQnex -Page 1 of 7

W I D PROJECTS IN MALAWI

1Women GA'sint RGC Ned for IGAs in BsinessSkm(GTm MOCS In 5th Year RGCs done. CDAs IN RGCs Maintemnce of Pa-ticipatory Smll loans;

,_______ _____________ Equipm nt. Credit ClubsNeeds for improved food

. Inceasing Women's technologies in 3 regions CDAs & ADD staff Use of technologies; Snall revolvingProductivity (UNIFEbo MOCS Not begun done, survey of existing and other MOA in Business Skills; Participatory fund $20,000

food processing technologies. selected areas. Leadership.3. IGA's for Rural Wornen Needs for agro-related lGSs WPOs and other Business skills; Revolving Fund

Farners (UNDP) MOA Began 1989 in 8 ADDs proposed. staff in 8 ADDS. Agricultural extension Participatory $45.0004. Household Food Field Assts. in Training in leading Use of existing MOA

Security Pilot Survey to Wentify 2 EPPs in 2RDPs problem solving redit channels witbProgramnme (World MOA Began 1990 beneficiaries' needs and - one in S. Region discussion, special Participatoy advice on IGAs to repayBank, UNDP) constraints. - one in C. Region constraints on women wasn credit/or amize

and tand-poor farmers. production credit groups.5. Business Advisory _Needs assssment seminars; Field Work Small amount of credit

Serviceas for wonea Survey of constraints on DEMATT staff and Business Managemnt Lectures, etc. for women's businesses(UNDPIUSAID part of UNIDO Began 1989 women's involvement in buainess-women Skills and services Group Training ($50,000) thuoughREADI project) business. (clietts). available. Seminars SEDOM. Not estab-

lished yet.Needs survey in pilot areas,

. Malawi Mudzi Fund First loans Socio-econoniic conditions of Bank Staff Leadership plus group Participatory 4,500,000(IFAD, World Bank) Mudzi Fund in 8190 target beneficiaries (by Center within Mudzi. dynamics. Rural credit initially

for Social Research) plus savings for WA's.7. UNCDF MLWlS7/CO2 Ministry of

Credit Facility for rural Trade and ITDG Survey in Mulanje Entrepreneurs Product Promotion and Participatory $1,652,000enctrprises Industry and Began 1991 Entrepeneur Training.

SEDOM. Training of Trainers at

Magornero Comnunity Survey of skills needed byServices College. EDI CDAs to help women with Staff and Students Training Skills, Participatory, ftid- None(World Bank, WGAs. Case studies of Magorero College Promotion of IGAs work and lcoturesGoverunent of Italy) MOCS Began 19S9 business women.

. WID component ofPopulation Health & Promotion of IGAs,Nutrition Sector Credit MOCS Began 1991 Field Surveys in Pilot Villages CDAs, Womnen business and technical Various $555,000(World Bank) Participants skills I

Note: This table excludes project such as health, nutrition, childspacing, which benefit women greatly, but which are described as serving specificsectoral objectives. Inclusion/exclusion is in some sense arbitrary, depending on the stated project objectives, not actual impact.

Page 2 of 7

W I D PROJECTS IN MALAWI (continued)

10. MA" - Adcull MOA's _ Womn'sReatrach & Exsion Women' Feld suwys by Progm Staff(USAID) Sectbi Began 1987 MOA exnsion and 200 Farm Academic and

worers Home Assistants Technical Fomal Thwgh MOA11. Rural Devolopmeat ULnkges_ Women in literacy

(USAJID) MOCS Began 19S3 clases and hoamecaft Ltacy, bomecraft, Vadous RevWving seed FundsEnded 1990 groups. gardening, IGA.

_ GA, beal care,2. SHARED ptoject (USAI)) NGO's Begun 1990 Ptoject Data Collection System Rural Women agriculure Vaious Not Known

Academic Degrees ianon-ta"tional fields,

3. HRID Women's Univity of University Students eg. Bus. Admin.,Scholahqip (USAID) Malawi 1987 and Women Degree Agdcuture, Foml

Canddate Management, SocilogCourses in Women'sStudies

MOCS Degrees for 7 MOCS Techncal Degrees, 14. Womn in Dewvlopment CCAM Prposed staff CCAM officers, Diplomas and st MKa.25 milion

(AfDB) NCWID Policy-makern, coarses, Refresher Various through MOCSCDAs, HCWs. trainig to MOCS staff

15. - _ _ _ __Training Women in Economi MOCS To begin Women's Program Tning in Participatory, fieldAcvities (ODA) in 1991 Staff of MOCr Business Manage work and wokshops

16. SPPF Study on labo-SingTechnoogies for Women MOCS Began 1991 Investigations in(IDA) 4 SADCC counties

Summary Lists INSTUTIOINS WITH WOMEN'S PROGRAMMEIPRO0ECT ACTIVITIES, -WOMEN'S SECTOR'S OF

INSTITUTION GO/NGO PROGRAM/PROJECT/ WOMEN'S INVOLVEMENTCOMPONENT _

Association of Pre-School Playgroups NGO indirect Pre-School Playgroups(Child care centres) _

Bahai Centre NGO direct + indirect Adult literacy I non-formal 3education !

Cheshire Homes NGO indirect Non-formal training (care for sick/disabled) 0

CCAM NGO direct Women's Organisation : non-formal %education + training/charityfl.G.A.s uw

Christian Service Committee NGO direct Home economics / other non-formal 9education/l.G.A.s X

Dep. Youth/MYP GO direct Training I family health education I I.G.A.s Oa

goDEMATT NGO indirect Business Advice ° x

European Communities NGO indirect Smallholder agriculture / fishery;selihelp infrasirtcture; SSI

WOMEN'S SECTORS OFINSTITUTION GO/NGO PROGRAM/PROJECT/ WOMEN'S INVOLVEMENT

_______ __.COMPONENT _.

FAO NGO indirect Smaltholder agriculture / livestock;forestry;planned : family life education

Home Economics A5sociation NGO no Professional association

Inner Wheel Club NGO no Women's organisation: charity

Likoma Women's Club NGO direct Restaurant; home economics

Likomanika / MACOHA NGO direct Tie and Dye Project

MACOHA NGO direct Vocational training; SSI; I.G.A.'s

Nurses / Midwives council no Professional association

MUSCCO NGO indirect Savings / Credit institution

MO Agriculture GO direct Smaliholder agriculture; homeeconomics; I.G.A.s '

MO Communitk Services GO direct . indirect Home economics courses; I.G.A.s;adult literacy; other community o xdevelopment activities

MAP NGO no Polio Prevention and Care

WOMEN'S SECTORS OFINSTITUTION GOINGO PROGRAM/PROJECT/ WOMEN'S INVOLVEMENT

COMPONENTMOCS I GTZ GO/NGO direct I.G.A.s; saving I credit scheme

MO Education GO direct Inome economics / needleworkclasses

MO Forestry/Wood Enegy GO indirect Extension * training forestry;I.G.A.s; employment; selihelp projects

MO Health GO direct + indirect Maternal and Child Health; childspacing; Primary Health Care;

. I.G.A.s

MOLG GO direct Home economics courses/training___________________________ .______________ _ .HCW s

MOWS/Water Department GO indirect Selthelp water projects

Natural Resources College GO direct Training agricultural extension staff:agriculture, home economics, I.G.A.s

- _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.__ _ _ _ __ .__ _ _ _ _ ,_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .9

OPC / Rural Development Section GO indirect Rural Growth Centres / Selthelpprojects (social and economic tainfrastructure) o

PHAM NGO direct + indirect Maternal and Child Health; Primary Health Care; I.G.A.s

WOMEN'S SECTOR'S OFINSTITUTION GOlNGO PROGRAMWPROJECT/ WOMEN'S INVOLVEMENT

__________________________ COMPONENT

Save the Children Federation NGO direct * indirect Integrated rural development:home economics; I.G.A.'s;adult literacy; nutrition; health;selfhelp infrastructure; othercommunity development activities

SEDOM NGO indirect Small enterprise development(loans scheme)

Tie and Dye Centre/MACOHA NGO direct Small scale industry

UNICEF NGO direct + indirect Home economics; I.G.A.'s; adultliteracy; pre-school playgroups;

,__ __ __ ___ __ __ __ ___ __ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _h ealth

UNDP NGO direct + indirect Smaliholder agriculture; adultliteracy; business advice; vocationaltraining; SSI;Planned : I.G.A.'s (agrobusiness)

USAID NGO direct * indirect Smaliholder agriculture; integratedrural development;Planned : health X

o% x0 N

UNESCO NGO direct * indirect Smallholder credit fund for women; N

vocational training; child carecentres

_ , ..L

WOMEN'S SECTOR'S OFINSTITUTION GO/NGO PROGRAMIPRO3ECT/ WOMEN'S INVOLVEMENT

COMPONENTWorldbank NGO indirect Smaliholder agriculture, health,

education, wood energy

World Food Program NGO indirect Food assistance (health + forestry);training centres; refugeesassistance

World Vision NGO direct * indirect Integrated rural development:home economics; health; forestry;selthelp infrastructure; I.G.A.'s;and other community developmentactivities

04

'sJF1-

AŽ?N'EX ItUPage I of 2

Figure 1

SPECIAL COMM4ITTEES O? THE NATIONAL COIUISSIONON WOM IN DEVOPMI (MALAWI)

CO0TTEES

Education and

Training _. flnis*ry of_________ _______ co im wiity

.Ser."tc,o ,i ~~~MMERS

Family Hlealth and_

Welfare _i-t .eZg !sI2

Employment Nat_oal. t C. C A. M.} IN~~~~~~ant womenDevelqiuu,zt Ezecuti 3

_______._____ Parastatl. __ . __1_ - _ ~~~~~~niatio

Legal

. t;OS

Agricultur and Trus s 5R0sween

lug.ous-- Organksatlons

Planng ResearchEraluation

. . .,Private_ ganizatons

.I td me ..dium80ale gnterprL

AN4NEX IIIPage 2 of 2

- 55 -

Figure 2OPGANISArTONAL --TRUCTUrE

Executive Ecarz of ttie Nation.al C:zn issi:1amt Womert In Oevelcpmertt CMA!4&U

Che irPers znrTrus s |M migtrv of Secretariatf

CommunitVServics,

PrincI Pal1 Secretary

.71Under

SecrtetrVI7~~~~T1~Plenning

Coordimnetinq

AdministrativePersonnel

OeDuty Secretary Treasure

Mi;nstiy of Ministry of Mi istry OfAqriculture JuSattJcg Forestry and

Nat. Resources

I t Research SecretaryUniversity of MalsOl

I __

2nd Research SeerstaryIstional Research

Council

Member Member Memmer MemberMinistry atf Maiatr M3l'stry of Minis79try ofExternal Sroadcastinq Labour tIH althAffairs Corooration

- 56 - Annex IVPage 1 of 15

MNL&W12 WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Carr, Marilyn N., 1986. "Report on the Potential for Women and FoodTechnology Projects in Malawi," United Nations Development Fund for Women,September

The study focuses on the institutional mechanisms for implementingfood processing technology projects. It examines the institutionalmechanisms for integrating women in development at the nationallevel. Second. it considers the potential demand for locallyprocessed foodstuffs. Third, it reviews the mechanisms for promotingand developing women's food processing enterprises. Finally, itrecommends potential food processing technology project areas.

Chipande, Graham H.R., (date unknown). "Socio-economic Aspects of Female-headed Households and Rural Development Efforts with Special Reference tothe Phalombe Area of Southern Malawi,' Chancellor College, University ofMalawi.

The study analyzes the characteristics and constraints offemale-headed households in Malawi. It's aims are: 1) to documentthe incidence and extent of poverty among female-headed households;2) to investigate the causes of poverty among female-headedhouseholds; and 3) to suggest possible remedies. With respect to thefirst objective, the study aims at a comparative analysis of theincome positions of female-headed households in Phalombe RDP in orderto establish a statistical significance of the problem. With respectto the latter two objectiv*es, the emphasis is placed on comparing thesocio-economic positions of women who are heads of their ownhouseholds with women who come from male-headed households.

Dixon-Fyle, K. and Relf, C., 1988. "Local-level Transport in Rural Malawi:the Case for Intervention," Employment and Development Department, ILO,June.

The report presents the findings and recommendations of anexploratory mission for the ILO to assess rural transport problems inMalawi, particularly as they affect the country's emerging network ofRural Growth Centers. The study's aims are: 1) to ascertain theextent of convergence between the policies and plans for ruraldevelopment in Malawi and the principles of the ILO's integratedapproach to rural transport; 2) to collect available and relevantdata on existing patterns and modes of travel and transport both atthe village level and among villages, market centers and otherdestinations; 3) to assess the potential demand for improvement intravel and transport and make preliminary estimates of the potentialbenefits of such improvements; and 4) to document the existing policyframework in Malawi affecting the development of public and privatesector transport services.

- 57 - Annex IVPage 2 of 15

Evans, Janis, 1986. 'Malawi: Reaching Women Farmers," Report in the RRDCBulletin, RRDC, September.

In the area of Phalombe Rural Development Project, 35 percent ofhousehold heads are women. Yet in 1980, the lack of participation ofwomen in extension activities (and development programs) wasindicated by the fact that only S percent of seasonal creditborrowers were women. In this short article, the author describeshow the project's extension service set out, with some success, toidentify and meet the needs of women farmers and assesses some of thelessons of this experience.

Evans, Janis, 1987. "Promotion of Women in the Rural Areas at the RuralGrowth Centers: Report on the Field Staff Training for the Project'sSecond Phase," German Agency for Technical Cooperation, November.

The report presents the findings of a mission to Halawi designed toprepare field staff for the second phase of the German funded'Promotion of Women in Rural Areas at the Rural Growth Centers'project. The principal aim was to assist the project in improvingthe management and organization of activities with women at the fieldlevel with the following terms of references 1) to conduct a seminarfor field staff on the mobilization and management of women's groupsand 2) to compile a report on the mobilization and management ofwomen's groups. The report includes an evaluation of Phase I of theproject where the objective was to explore, on an experimental basis,different ways of promoting income generating activities with women.It also includes a set of proposals for Phase II.

Evans, Janis, 1989. 'Phalombe Rural Development Project: PilotAgricultural Program for Women Farmers, 1980 to 1983--a Review of theProgram's History to Date and Recommendations for Future Work withLow-resource Farming Households," ODA, British Government.

This report evaluates the performance of Phase I of the pilotagricultural program for women farmers, part of the Phalombe RDP, andsuggests several measures to improve Phalombe RDP's effectiveness inreaching low-resource target groups during the next phase. The studyset out to discover what happened to the women's groups establishedduring Phase I, what impact the women's program had on the RDP and onthe farmers involved, and what lessons could be learned for futurework with women and low-resource farmers. The study covers thefollowing areas: 1) a review of the evaluation, credit and extensiondata for Phalombe RDP in order to assess the socio-economic changessince Phase I and the extent to which the project reached differenttypes of farming households; 2) interviews with project staff onprogress and problems, particularly relating to women; 3) interviewswith development officers and field staff involved in the pilotproject; 4) 30 case studies on women in the project area; and 5)interviews with larger groups of male and female leaders.

- 58 - Annex IVPage 3 of 15

Evans, Janis, 1989. 'Smallholder Seasonal Credit in Kawinga RuralDevelopment Projectt Credit in the Economy of Rural Households; theUnsatisfied Demand for Seasonal Credit and Guidelines for theDevelopment of the Existing System," GTZ, June.

The study examines the seasonal credit program in Liwonde and KawingaADDs and looks at the changes which have taken place since the ADDswere established. The survey and statistical methodologies areexplained, results presented and discussed results, andrecommendations made. The study argues that there is a large unmetdemand for seasonal credit among all income groups. It alsoconcludes that the importance of off-farm sources of income forfamily food security and for repaying credit has been vastlyunderestimated in past surveys. The study offers recommendations forexpanding the supply of seasonal credit and for generating off-farmincome earning opportunities.

Hirschmann, David and Vaughan, Megan, 1983. 'Food Production and IncomeGeneration in a Matrilineal Society: Rural Women in Zomba, Malawi,'Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 10, No. 1, October.

This article describes the various food-producing and incomegenerating patterns found in rural households in the Zomba districtof Malawi. The study focuses on women but it necessarily links womenclosely to their own households and the wider family groupings,characterized by matrilineal inheritance and matrilocal marriage.

Hirschmann, David, 1984. "Women, Planning and Policy in Malawi," UnitedNations Commission for Africa, African Training and Research Centerfor Africa.

The report examines the position of women with regard to publicpolicy making and planning in Malawi. It describes the basicfeatures of Malawi's economy and the role of women in the society.The second part looks at the participation of women in planning andpolicy making. The third part focuses on plans and policiesspecifically relating to women. The final chapter provides a list ofrecommendations.

Hirschmann, David, 1984. "Bureaucracy and Rural Women: Illustrations fromMalawi," Working Paper No. 71, Lafayette College, November.

Many Malawian civil servants recognise that women are oftenresponsible for most work related to food production and that theyare vital to the rural economy. Yet by the time government programsemerge and are executed, they generally reflect a far more limitedevaluation of the role of women, as homemakers. This paper providesevidence of the restrictive nature of these policies, and then setsout to suggest explanations for this, giving primary attention tobureaucratic attitudes and perceptions. It notes the paucity ofwomen in policy-making positions, patriarchal attitudes among male

- 59 - Annex IVPage 4 of 15

civil servants, and the effects on rural women of negative officialattitudes towards 'non-progressive' peasant farmers in gender.

Hirschmann, David, 1985. "Women's Participation in Malawi's Local Councilsand District Development Committees,* Michigan State University,September.

This paper focuses on the participation of women in two types ofdecentralized agencies set up by the Malawi Government, namely LocalCouncils and District Development Committees. It deals witheducational, economic, and attitudinal impediments that restrictwomen's access to these institutions and limit the effectiveness ofthose few women who manage to enter the male-dominated domain offormal local politics. The paper argues that we can learn aboutgender relations by focusing on formal political institutions and, inthe conclusion, attempts to demonstrate the sort of contribution thiskind of research can make.

Howe, John, 1989. 'Social and Economic Impact of Carts and Wheelbarrows onWomen," United Nations Development Fund for Women, February.

The report describes the results of a consultancy to the Center forAgricultural Mechanization and Rural Technology (CAMARTEC), Tanzania,on behalf of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).The aim was to assist CAMARTEC in the design of a survey to measurethe social and economic impact on women of its program to encouragethe production and use of animal drawn carts and wheelbarrows inrural areas. The report analyzes existing data on the use by andimpact on women of rural transport devices, with particularreference to experiences in Tanzania. It also discusses the basicapproach to and guidelines for the field surveys.

Jorgensen, Kirsten, 1984. 'African Rural Water Supply: Where have all theWomen Gone?* Waterlines, Vol. 2, No. 3, January.

This is based on a paper presented at a seminar organized by theAfrican Women's Association for Research and Development and the DagHammarskjold Foundation in Dakar, Senegal, in June 1982. Itdescribes how women were traditionally assumed to benefit from ruralwater supply programs in Africa and points out that this has not beenthe case. The article reviews methods of targeting women in ruralwater supply projects.

Kalyati, E.J., 1988. 'The Organizational Structure and Functions of theNational Commission on Women in Development (NCWID)," Ministry ofCommunity Services, Government of Malawi, July.

This paper describes the functions and structure of the NationalCommission on Women in Development (NCWID). It reviews the historyof NCWID, the objectives, and the different committees convened underits structure. It also examines sector strategies for the

- 60 - Annex IVPage 5 of 15

advancement of women that have been developed and incorporated intothe on-going programs of relevant ministries.

Kishindo, C.W.P., 1986. 'The Role of Women in Development: Bibliography ofResources held at Bunda College of Agriculture", Bunda College,Lilongwe, Malawi.

Bibliography (about 186 entries) referenced by topic, detailedsubject index, and author index. Gives full titles and publicationdata, but no further information.

Lele, Uma, (date unknown). "Structural Adjustment, AgriculturalDevelopment, and the Poor: Some Lessons from the MalawianExperience," Managing Agricultural Development in Africa Study, WorldBank, Country Economics Department, Special Studies Division.

The article describes the dualism of the agricultural sector, theexternal shocks that hurt Malawi's economy and the adjustmentsinstituted to restore macroeconomic balance. It looks at the effecton the smallholder sector of key structural adjustment measures. Thepaper argues that complementary policies are needed to promoteequitable growth.

Liebenow, Gus, J., 1984. 'Malawi: Clean Water for the Rural Poor PartOne--Organization and Preparation," Waterlines, Vol. 2, No. 3,January.

This is an edited version of a paper published by Universities FieldStaff International, Inc. It describes Malawi's gravity-fed watersupply system, focusing on Mulanje District where the first majorefforts took place. A follow-on piece on construction andmaintenance is in the next issue of Waterlines.

Malawi, Government of, (date unknown). "Cultivating Women's Involvement inImproved Agricultural Production," Women's Program Section, Ministryof Agriculture.

This government pamphlet, put out by the Women's Program Section ofthe Ministry of Agriculture, attempts to increase the awareness ofwomen's contribution to the agricultural sector and outlines itsstrategy for increasing women's involvement in programs and projectsdesigned to increase smallholder productivity. In addition to theMinistry's regular activities, the pamphlet covers in greater detailits special efforts to include women in its agricultural developmentprograms. These include: the Agricultural Research and ExtensionProject and the Income Generation for Women Farmers Project.

- 61 - Annex IVPage 6 of 15

-Malawi, Government of, 1986. 'Rural Housing Program Brochure," Office ofthe President and Cabinet, Rural Housing Program, August.

The Rural Housing Development Program in Malawi was launched in1981 by the Government, in cooperation with the United NationsDevelopment Program (UNDP) and the United Nations Center for HumanSettlements (HABITAT) to help improve the supply and quality ofhousing in Malawi's rural areas. The report provides a briefbackground of the program, its development objectives, institutionalframework, and project activities and outputs in Phase I and II.

Malawi, Government of, 1987. "Activities Requiring Assistance fromUNICEF," Community Development Section, Ministry of CommunityServices, August.

The brief report describes the history, objectives, andactivities of the Women's Program in the Ministry of CommunityServices and the history of UNICEF cooperation with the Ministry. Italso examines long-term objectives of the program and thoseactivities requiring assistance from UNICEF.

Malawi, Government of, and United Nations, 1987. "The Situation of Womenand Children in Malawi," UNICEF, September.

The first section of the joint report on women and children inMalawi covers the health and nutrition status of children. It startswith a description of the prevalence and causes of malnutrition andmorbidity in infants and children. It then analyzes the fundamentaldeterminants of these factors including: the inadequate productivityand low incomes of the smallholding majority and the limitedavailability of basic services. The second section considers thehealth and nutritional status of vomen. It first examines women'sproductive roles and women's health status. It then relates thehealth and nutritional situation of women to their access toinformation, the availability of their time, their access to materialrequisites, and the child caretaking environment.

Malawi, Government of, 1988. "Women's Program Section: PolicyGuidelines,' Ministry of Agriculture.

The Women's Program Policy Guidelines and Implementation Manual waswritten to assist extension staff in the Ministry of Agriculture inunderstanding and implementing Women's Program activities. Thepurpose of the document is: 1) to promote understanding of the roleof women in agriculture and of the issues these women currently face;2) to discuss how the Women's Program Section fits within the goalsof the Ministry of Agriculture; and 3) to clarify the purposes andactivities of the Women's Program Section. Part I of the documentdiscusses the role of women in agriculture, the background of theWomen's Program, and the policy objectives of the Women's Program

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Section. Part II presents ideas and suggestions for implementingthese policies. It provides practical ideas for field staff toimplement activities for women farmers. It also provides strategiesfor supervisors of the Women's Program to assist field staff indeveloping and evaluating programs for women farmers.

Halavi, GoverAment of, 1988. "How to Make Cement Roofing Tiles," Office ofthe President and Cabinet, Rural Housing Program, August.

The Rural Housing Project has, since its inception in 1981, developedand used sisal cement sand roofing sheets which are now produced atall the district and regional centers. In 1984, the development ofsmaller elements made of sand and cement started 'The Rural HousingSand Cement Roofing Tile' project. This manual is a result ofresearch and development within the project in collaboration with thePolytechnic, University of Melawi. It describes in some detail theprocess involved in the production and application of cement-sandroofing tiles.

Mkandawire, R.M., Asiedu, J.J., and Mtimuni, Beatrice, (1988). "Women andFood Processing in Malawi," United Nations Development Fund forWomen, Project No. MLW/87/101.

An interdisciplinary team of investigators carried out a study onwomen and food processing in three selected areas in Malawi. Thestudy was undertaken in response to a request from the Ministry ofCommunity Services and the United Nations Development Fund. The mainobjective of the study was to examine the socio-economic conditions,activities, and circumstances of women in each of the three regionsof the country in order to develop some basis for the introduction oflabor saving technologies and income earning activities in the areaof food processing for women. Based on the survey results, the studyoffers detailed recommendations for various types of labor savingfood processing technologies in each of the study areas.

Molnar, Augusta, 1988. 'Women and Forestry: Operational Issues," WorldBank, Population and Human Resources Department, Women in DevelopmentDivision, December.

The thrust of this document is operational. It is intended to be ofpractical use in designing and implementing forestry projects thatsuccessfully involve women. The document takes a narrow focus toassist staff who need to know: 1) why women should be included inthe design of forestry projects and of other projects containingsubstantial forestry components; and 2) how women can be included,given the existing political, social, administrative, managerial,financial, and technical constraints.

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Murison, Susan, 1987. sMalawi: Seasonal Credit for Smallholders," UnitedNations Capital Development Fund, Project No. MLWI79IC02, April.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) 'Credit forSmallholders' project in Malawi began operations in the 1981182agricultural season and ran for three years until the 1983184 season.It was designed to assist the Government with additional funds forits existing credit scheme serving farmers in the smallholder sector.Rather than evaluating the project, the paper focuses on theconnections between the design of the project and the gendercharacteristics of the economy in which it intervened. The intentionis to encourage consideration of whether or not a more thoroughawareness of gender issues in the design and implementation of acredit project would enhance its ability to contribute to theGovernment's objective of increased rural production.

Nankumba, J.S., and Machika, M.R., 1988. "Dynamics of Land Tenure andAgrarian Systems in Africa: the case of Malawi," FAO, June.

The report, carried out on behalf of the FAO, presents the findingsof a survey on the land tenure situation in Malawi. The reportdescribes and analyzes: 1, the functioning and operation oftraditional and political institutions in relation to land and landinstitutions, particularly their role in ensuring access to land; 2)the organization of production, particularly the types and forms ofinputs with special emphasis on labor; 3) the role of the tenuresystem with regard to subsistence, employment, income, investment,social security, social integration, participation, and socialequity; 4) the present constraints of the customary tenure in thelight of the socio-political and economic dynamics, the present landreform and its impact on the variables mentioned in (3) above; and 5)the trends in regard to all the foregoing.

National Commission on Women in Development in Collaboration with theMinistry of Education and Culture, Augu3t 1990, "Report of a WOrkshopon Increasing Access of Girls and Women in Education and TrainingOpportunities in Malawi.

The report summarizes the papers presented and the opening andclosing remarks, and lists the conclusions and recommendations of theworking grot-ps and plenary session of the workshop. Participants arelisted. The following papers were presented (and would be availableon request from NCWID or USAID who financed the workshop):Demographic trends and effects on education; The contribution ofwomen and girls towards the labor force in Malawi; The effects ofcultural and socio-economic changes on female education in Malawi;Girls and women participation in male-dominated fields in Malawi;Increasing female participation in formal education through planning;Malawi: educational efficiency with particular reference to girls andwomen; Experiences of headmistresses in co-educational institutions;Why some girls fail to continue with their education; Career

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guidance; Personal experiences of of female students in non-traditional areas; School curriculum; Vocational and technicaleducation for women in Malawi; Adult literacy and adult education forwomen in Malawi; Youth training programmes in the Department of Youthand Malawi Young Pioneers; Training of women in the high and middlelevel oecupational categories; Conditions of service and employmentopportunities for women in the civil service.

Nelson, Candace, 1989. "Malawi: the Ministry of Community Services andthe Promotion of Income Generation for Rural Women," World Bank,AF6PH.

The report is the result of three weeks of field work in Malawi inMay of 1989 during which time the author worked with Joy de Beyer ofthe World Bank to evaluate the Ministry of Community Services'efforts to promote income generation activities among rural women.The assessment team focused its efforts on the Ministry's extensionnetwork and current village level activities and tried to look atthese within the broader inetitutional context supporting incomegeneration. The team's questions concerned the existing businessskills within the extension network, training needs of both extensionworkers and village women, resources available to and needed byextension workers, sources of credit, and major barriers to effectiveincome programs.

Okeyo, Achola-Pala, 1988. "The Role of Women in Eastern African RuralDevelopment," Regional Development Dialogue, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer.

This paper is premised on the proposition that gender-based equalityhas not been successfully incorporated in rural developmentstrategies in eastern African countries and that women continue toreceive inadequate attention in the potential solutions for thedevelopment of rural areas. The paper explores how and why thisstate of affairs persists and what is needed to empower women inorder to increase their participation and opportunities in ruraldevelopment.

Reintsma, Mary, and Lang, Paola, February 1989. "Impacts of Economic andAgricultural Policies on Women in Agriculture in Malawi," Robert R.Nathan Associates, Inc., Washington, DC, September.

The paper presents the results of one of a series of studiesundertaken for the Women in Development Office of USAID. The purposeof the paper was to examine the impacts of economic policies onwomen in the agricultural sector of Malawi. The paper considers boththe direct and indirect effects of policies on women in thesmallholder and estate sectors. Policies looked at include: fiscal,exchange rate, and agricultural sector policies. Policies examinedunder the latter category include: prices and marketing policies,wage policies, production controls, agricultural input policies,

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research and extension policies, food security policies, and landpolicy.

Save the Children Federation, 1986. "Malawi Rural Development LinkagePrograms Mkhota Baseline Survey," Save the Children Federation,July.

The report describes and provides the results of a baseline survey ofMkhota Rural Growth Center in Kasungu ADD in the Central Region. Thesurvey, carried out in 1986, was designed to help plan the secondphase of the Malawi Rural Development Linkage Program. The report isdivided into four parts. Part 1 provides a general background to theMkhota catchment area. Part 2 gives the baseline household surveyquestionnaire. Part 3 provides village-level information based on asurvey of three villages in the catchment area. Part 4 provides theconclusions and recommendations of the survey.

Save the Children Federation, 1989. "Save the Children Reports on Malawi,"February.

The brief note describes and evaluates SCF's project assistance toMalawi. Among the actions cited are: a Revolving Drug Fund designedto help make basic medicine available in the villages; a RevolvingSeed Fund designed to meet the seed needs and improve the nutritionof small farmers; its appropriate technology program intended todevelop a low-cost groundnut press; and its 'women-in-development'program designed to improve the educational level of women, teachthem useful skills, and help them supplement their incomes in theMbalachanda and Mkhota areas.

Schellenberg, Marianne, and Nkunika, Adam, 1988. "Women's Programs inHalawi: A Survey on Governmental and Non-governmental Women'sPrograms," German Agency for Technical Cooperation and the Governmentof Malawi.

The report presents the findings of a survey carried out jointly bythe Government of Malawi and the German Agency for TechnicalCooperation (GTZ) in 1988 on the WID activities of local andinternational organizations in Malawi. The purpose of the survey wasto gain knowledge about existing and planned women's programs andprojects carried out by various groups. The survey report contains aselected number of 34 detailed project and program descriptions ofvarious organizations depending on their relevance and dataobtained. One of the survey's aims is to initiate a dialogue betweenthese organizations toward the establishment of a coordinatednational WID strategy.

Sebstad, Jennifer, 1989. "Expanding Off-farm Income and EmploymentOpportunities for Women, Issues and Options for USAID/Malawi".

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The report identifies and evaluates the constraints faced by women inthe small-scale sector, and recommends ways in which the constraintscan be mitigated, making explicit suggestions for USAID's program ofassistance to Malawi.

Segal, Marcia Texler, 1986. "Land and labors A Comparison ofFemale-headed and Male-headed Households in Halawi's SmallholderSector,' WID Forum X, Michigan State University, November.

Using data from the 1983-84 Annual Sample Survey of Agriculture, thispaper compares male- and female-headed smallholder household inMalawi's eight agricultural development districts. Despiteinter-district variation female-headed households are shown to haveless land an labor and lower incomes than male-headed ones. Thosehouseholds belonging to farm clubs, including those that arefemale-headed, are shown to be more successful economically andmore likely to be able to provide adequate food for householdmembers. Farm and nonfarm alternative sources of income arediscussed and their probability of improving the prospects offemale-headed households is evaluated.

SORCA-BMB and GITEC Consult, 1987. "Study of Off-farm Income Generationand Employment in Malawi: Phase I," German Agency for TechnicalCooperation, August.

To give direction to possible funding in the field of off-farm incomegeneration and employment by the EEC for Malawi, an overall sectorstudy of small business development was proposed. This reportpresents the findings of that study. The report begins by focusingon the existing off-farm income generating activities in Malawi'srural areas. Thereafter, Chapter 3 constitutes a survey of theinstitutions engaged in promotional activities. Chapter 4discusses the status of communication in the rural areas. Chapter 5includes an analysis of the main bottlenecks and constraints tooff-farm income generation and employment. Chapter 6 presents therecommendations. In Chapter 7, projects recommended for funding bythe EEC are outlined.

Spring, Anita, 1986. 'Men and Women Smallholder Participants in aStall-feeder Livestock Program in Malawi," Human Organization, Vol45, No. 2.

This paper examines how the addition of a livestock enterpriseaffects the farming systems and farmers'remuneration. It considersdifferential recruitment of women and men farmers to the program aswell as differences in labor, training, and use of income gained.The article argues that women's involvement in the care of largeanimals has increased significantly as a result of the program.However, the importance of their participation is unrecognized by

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many development staff and consultants and, consequently, fewlivestock services are directed to women.

Spring, Anita, 1987. 'Using Male Research and Extension Personnel toTarget Women Farmers,' Working Paper, No. 144, University of Florida,September.

Farming systems research and extension (FSRIE) should includeinformation about the sexual division of labor, resource allocation,income generation, and knowledge of farming practices. Yet gender isoften omitted from FSR/E. Researchers usually rely on field agentsto locate, interview, and select trial cooperators. Male extensionstaff target male farmers for these activities, and there are fewfemale extension workers. Those who are tend to be untrained,concentrated in lower rank positions, and assigned to home economicsproblems. A case study from Malawi shows that it was uncommon forwomen to be included in FSRIE work as trial farmers. The 'Women inAgricultural Development' project, which conducted surveys thatincluded women, found that women could carry out trials, had specificproblems, tended to be low-resource farmers, and fell into a separaterecommendation domain from high-resource male farmers. This reportreviews the findings of that survey.

Trivedy, H.R., 1988. *Oxfam Action Research Program: Mulanje," Oxfam,July.

The report summarizes the work of the Action Research Program inMulanje, the aims of which are: 1) to identify and explore thedevelopment problems and priorities of the rural communities in thedistrict; 2) to identify and explore possible solutions to theseproblems and priorities; and 3) to make recommendations to Oxfam onits future role in Malawi. The report is divided into four sections.Section 1 provides an introduction. Section 2 provides contextualbackground information on Mulanje. Section 3 discusses the methodsused for the research. Section 4 provides the findings of the study.Section 5 offers recommendations on Oxfam's future role.

United Nations, 1980. "National Report Submitted by Malawi," WorldConference of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality,Development and Peace, July.

The paper was presented by the Halawian representative to the WorldConference of the United Nations Decade for Women held in Copenhagenin 1980. It contains a brief outline of the efforts taken by theGovernment in trying to raise the standard of living of women, inparticular, those living in the rural areas.

United Nations, 1987. ATRCW Update, No. 9, African Training and ResearchCenter for Women, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,December.

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The Update is a free newsletter published by the African training andResearch Center for Women (ATRCW), United Nations Economic Commissionfor Africa, on women and development, primarily on the Africanregion, but it covers other regions as well. This issue focuses onnews of ATRCW activities and programs as well as information on whatother organizations, institutions, and individuals are doingregarding women and development.

United Nations, 1988. 'Report of the Workshop on Improving AgriculturalExtension and Training Policies for Rural Women in Malawi," FAO,October.

The report compiles the proceedings and papers presented at theworkshop on improving agricultural extension and training policiesfor rural women in Malawi sponsored by the FAO and held in Lilongwefrom October 11-14, 1988. It provides an overview of the workshopaims and objectives, the timetable for the four-day workshop, and theopening speech by the National Coordinator of CCAM. It also providesa summary of the papers and discussions emanating from each of theindividual sessions. Finally, it presents the national agriculturalextension and training policies, and offers the generalrecommendations of the workshop.

United Nations, 1988. "Subregional Seminar on Measures to Improve Women'sManagerial Skills," United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,January.

This report, on the subregional seminar on measures to improvewomen's managerial skills held in Nairobi, Kenya from January 19-23,1988, records the final activity of the 'Training African Women inEntrepreneurial Skills' proejct, for the period 1983 to 1986.

United Nations, 1988. "Malawi: Constraints and Opportunities forIncome-generating Interventions," TSS Mission Report No. 52/88,United Nations High Commission for Refugees, November.

The advisor on income-generating activities undertook a mission toMalawi to explore the constraints on and the opportunities forincome-generating interventions. The report discusses the issues ofcontinued provision of relief assistance to all refugees in Malawi,of the lack of sufficient economic absorption capacity, and of theramifications both have with regard to economic intervention onbehalf of refugees. It argues for an integrated refugee-affectedarea approach and proposes five complementary strategies forintervention: training/employment of suitably equipped women asvillage workers; decentralized local purchase of non-food items;direct assistance to very poor but economically active households;indirect assistance to others through support to villageinstitutions/services; and small-scale labor-intensive developmentschemes.

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United Nations, 1989. "Malawi: Expanding Income-earning Opportunities inRefugee-affected Areas Through Increased Demand," TSS Mission Report,No. 89/08, United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

As a follow-up to TSS Mission Report 52/88, the advisor onincome-generating activities undertook a mission to Malawi inJanuary/February of 1989 to guide and train agency workers and fieldofficers on planning and implementing appropriate programs to expandincome-earning opportunities in refugee-affected areas. The reportanalyzes the economic changes at the household level brought about bythe large influx of refugees and assesses the constraints andpotential of implementing partners and agencies. It proposessmall-scale experimental measures to raise the general purchasingpower and the opportunities of the most vulnerable refugee householdsto be able to share in the expected increase in demand for theirpara-economic activities.

USAID, (date unknown). "Selected Statistical Data by Sex," Office ofDevelopment Information and Utilization, USAID.

The US Bureau of Census recently completed a pilot six-month project,sponsored jointly by USAID Women in Development Office and the Officeof Population, which, drawing on existing data sources, provides datadisaggregated by sex, age and urban-rural employment. The purpose ofthe project was to capture and make accessible, in a convenientsingle location, statistical data from existing sources relevant to abetter understanding of the status and roles of womeninAID-participating countries. The report contains the data onMalawi.

USAID, (date unknown). "Malawi Human Resources and InstitutionalDevelopment Project,' USAID.

This document describes the Human Resources and InstitutionalDevelopment Project, sponsored jointly by USAID and the Government ofMalawi. The project addresses key concerns outlined in theGovernment's development policy and is based on an analysis of theproblems of human resources development from the perspective of labordemand and utilization, as well as the capacity of post-secondarytraining and educational institutions to develop these neededresources. The report includes a statement of: 1) the objectives ofthe project; 2) the types of activities eligible for funding; 3) theprocedures for submitting proposals; 4) what should be included inproject proposals; and 5) questions and answers about the project.

Vaughan, Megan and Chipande, Graham, (date unknown). "Women in the EstateSector of Malawi: the Tea and Tobacco Industries," Rural EmploymentPolicy Research Program, International Labor Organization.

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The ILO's Program on Rural Women documents and analyzes the problemsand concerns of poor rural women in order to understand their rolesas workers and to lay a foundation for more constructive policyguidance and technical cooperation activities. The study presentsthe findings of research conducted in 1984 among women on tea andtobacco estates in Malawi. The study's findings unveil many commoncharacteristics of women and employment in the Third World. As wivesand mothers, food producers and unpaid helpers, full and part-timewage laborers, women contribute directly and indirectly to estateproduction. Yet their participation in employment is widelyunder-reported and women suffer discrimination as workers with regardto wages, conditions of employment, and organization. Differences inthe situation of women according to kinship and family structure andtheir effect on mobility and economic opportunities are alsodiscussed, with particular reference to female-headed households.

World Bank, 1989. "Malawi National Rural Development Program: TechnicalIssues Review," Southern Africa Department, Agricultural Operations,February.

The report entails a technical review of the performance of theNational Rural Development Program (NRDP) in Malawi and makesrecommendations for improving its performance during subsequentphases of funding. The report provides a background of Malawi'ssmallholder sector and of past interventions made under the program.This is followed by an analysis of the policy issues affectingsmallholder performance. The report concludes with a set ofproposals for actions to broaden the impact of the NRDP. Thespecific proposals are divided into the following categories:research, extension, input supply, and credit.

Zahedi, Nancy, 1985. "Women's Income Generating Activities in theMbalachanda area," Save the Children Federation, December.

The paper evaluates the performance of SCF program assistance towomen's income generating activities in Mbalachanda and offersrecommendations for how the program could be improved in the future.The purpose of assisting the homecraft groups in the area on incomegeneration was to provide the women with a steady source of income sothat the groups would be able to purchase the materials required forhomecraft activities. The study offers some lessons for promotingthe income generating activities of women.