The World Bank has granted Malawi $27-million to resettle 25 000 farmers under a controversial land reform programme aimed at reducing poverty in the Southern African nation, its land minister said on Thursday.
”Initially, we asked for a loan of $25-million, but instead we will be given a grant of $27-million,” said Land Minister Thengo Maloya.
The World Bank is a major sponsor of the country’s tough economic reforms.
Malawi has acquired commercial farms and idle land for redistribution to poor peasants to grow food crops, especially the national staple, maize.
The policy allows overseas firms and foreigners to lease land from the government or from private land owners for investment purposes only, while foreigners interested in freehold are required to form partnerships with Malawians or attain Malawian citizenship to retain their ownership.
Malawi’s Indians have criticised the policy, arguing that the clause barring all non-Malawians and foreign firms from owning land while granting freehold status exclusively to Malawians is discriminatory.
The World Bank’s senior agricultural economist, Stanley Hiwa, said under a pilot programme targeting four of the country’s 28 districts in the densely populated south, about 15 000 ”land-short” farmers will be resettled in the first phase.
The remainder will be resettled in the next phase, he added.
”Access to land and the acquisition of it is the main safeguard against deepening poverty,” Hiwa said.
Up to 65% of the 11-million people in Malawi live below the poverty line.
During three decades of dictatorial rule under founder president Kamuzu Banda, thousands of peasants were squeezed into unproductive areas, leaving foreign firms, some white farmers and top politicians in control of 60% of fertile land.
Agriculture, both commercial and small-scale farming, contributes 34% of gross domestic product and 90% of foreign exchange earnings in the country. — Sapa-AFP