October 2015 A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in 25% fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Management (in the field of Public and Development Management) / Over the last forty to fifty years the industry that supports international development cooperation, has become more complex in its pursuit of multifaceted development objectives. Studies suggest that history, politics and a power differential between aid recipients and the foreign aid workforce undermine the development policy process locally. This study explores local engagement on development policy in Malawi, between public officials/aid recipients and donor-agency practitioners/foreign aid workforce; and the role of the 2008 Paris Declaration (PD) on Aid Effectiveness in this engagement. The two significant findings are that, while there are some adverse effects of history, politics and power in engagement on development policy, there is also evidence of replicable outcomes that can bolster the policy process. Secondly, the democracy model in practice in Malawi is struggling to deliver development policy dividends. The study concludes that both the state and donor agencies working in Malawi should mutually leverage global commitments, domestically, and use them to negotiate an increase in development aid committed to improving the development processes, for greater national ownership. The study specifically recommends the adoption of deliberative democratic development processes. This nuanced approach may improve Malawi’s ability to yield development policy dividends

The research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in fulfilment of the requirements for awarding the degree of Masters of Arts in Demography and Population Studies, 2017 / GR2018

An integrated framework of Family Resource Management and Household Economic theory was utilized to develop a model of relationships between human capital, family characteristics and resources, number of income sources, hours spent in home production, total income and subjective well-being. This study utilized a sample of 129 women systematically selected from Machinga and Zomba Districts in Malawi. Results of Path analysis showed that place of residence, primary education and secondary education or above had positive direct relationships to number of income sources. Variables which had significant negative relationships with hours spent in home production were place of residence and age. Access to farm technologies had a positive relationship. The positive predictors of total income were: primary education, secondary education or above, number of income sources, place of residence, land holding size and access to farm technologies. Home production time and health status were negatively related to total income. Total income and hours spent in home production were significant and positively related to a well-being score, derived from four measures of well-being. Health status was negatively related to this score. Five variables: place of residence, age, primary education, secondary education or above and access to farm technologies had indirect effects on total income through number of income sources and home production. All independent variables entered had indirect effects on the well-being score through total income and hours spent in home production. Number of income sources only mediated the effects on the well-being score jointly with total income. On the whole, both intervening variables did a fair job of mediating the effects of independent variables on total income and subjective well-being (well-being score). Finally, household size, health status and subjective well-being significantly affected overall satisfaction with life. This study has implications for policy, education/training and research in order to enhance women's well-being. / Graduation date: 1996

This thesis is the result of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Phalombe District in Malawi, Southern Africa, where I studied agricultural development projects in the village of Kachala. The focus of this investigation is on people's perceptions and ideas of development co-operation and the meanings of development and poverty in general. Perceptions of development and poverty among villagers in Kachala are compared to those of development agents working for development organizations in the area. These perceptions are also compared to the definitions of development and poverty found throughout development literature. This research demonstrates - through examples from Phalombe District and elsewhere - how notions of development are relative, diverse and context-specific, and therefore not static and universally applicable. Finally, participatory development ideals and the structurally unequal donor-recipient relationships, at the core of the current development system, are discussed. This thesis illustrates how the common portrayal of development as an oppressive, disempowering industry, characterized by top-down interventions, does not always apply.

<p>This research study seeks to investigate how institutional arrangements impact on intra-party democracy in Malawi. Intra-party democracy is essential as it promotes party unity through reduced fragmentation and factionalism, encourages a culture of democratic debate and deliberation of critical issues within the party and therefore collective ownership of decisions. Further, it creates legitimate internal conflict management systems and finally, reduces opportunistic and arbitrary use of delegated authority. These are fundamental tenets of any functioning democratic entity. These elements of intra-party democracy are attainable if they are formerly stipulated and governed by the party&rsquo / s constitutional rules. Where such rules either do not exist or are not effectively enforced, major operational problems arise. These may include: non-inclusive candidate selection procedures, centralised coalition negotiation processes, unprocedural conflict management mechanisms and unconstitutional or illegitimate party conventions. Consequently, the resulting outcomes include party instability and factionalism stimulated by resignations and expulsions, declining electoral support and weak coalitions. These factors undermine the party&rsquo / s contribution to democracy. The next section gives the context and historical evolution of parties in Malawi.</p>

In Malawi, as in many newly-democratic countries in the developing world, donor organisations and NGOs have embarked on projects aimed at making reforms in governance which have generated a profusion of new spaces for citizen engagement. This thesis critically examines one such project in Malawi against the backdrop of a democratic nation emerging from a background of dictatorial regime. For thirty years, until 1994, Malawi was under the one-party regime of Kamuzu Banda which was characterised by dictatorial tendencies, in which participatory processes were non-existent and development was defined in terms of client-patronage relationships between the state and society (Cammack, 2004: 17). In 1994, however, Malawi embraced a multiparty system of government, paving way to various political and social reforms, which adopted participatory approaches to development. Drawing on a number of literatures, this thesis seeks to historicize the relationship which developed during the pre democracy era between the state and society in Malawi to underscore its influence on the current dispositions displayed by both bureaucrats and citizens as they engage in participatory decision making processes. This is achieved through a critical realist case study of a participatory radio project in Malawi called Ndizathuzomwe which works through a network of community-based radio production structures popularly known as ‘Radio Listening Clubs’(RLCs) where communities are mobilised at village level to first identify and define development problems through consensus and then secondly engage state bureaucrats, politicians, and members of other relevant service delivery organisations in making decisions aimed at resolving community-identified development problems (Chijere-Chirwa et al, 2000). Unlike during the pre-democracy era, there is now a shift in the discourse of participation in development, from the participation of ‘beneficiaries’ in projects, to the more political and rights-based definitions of participation by citizens who are the ‘makers and shapers’ of their own development (Cornwall and Gaventa, 2000). The findings of this thesis, however point to the fact that, there remains a gap between normative expectations and empirical realities in that spaces for participation are not neutral, but are themselves shaped by power relations (Cornwall, 2002). A number of preconditions exist for entry into participatory institutions as such entry of certain interests and actors into public spaces is privileged over others through a prevailing mobilisation of bias or rules of the game (Lukes, 1974: I)

xiv, 126 p. : ill., map. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / The government of Malawi is being lauded internationally for having ostensibly eliminated hunger within its borders through a subsidy that makes available chemical fertilizers to smallholder farmers. Development scholarship and policy have recently turned toward promoting a "new" Green Revolution in Africa for the establishment of food security and the advancement of economic development. Many view the increased use of chemical fertilizer in Malawian agriculture and the resultant rise in maize yieldsdescribed by such publications as the New York Times as the "Malawi Mirac1e"-as evidence that the prescribed NGR is indeed a recipe for success. This thesis places the subsidy in its historical and theoretical framework and discusses the extent to which production-end strategies accomplish the goals of food security. Also discussed are nonproduction measures that are essential to creating a reliable and accessible food system. / Committee in Charge: Peter A. Walker, Chair; Derrick L. Hindery

Magister Artium - MA / This research study seeks to investigate how institutional arrangements impact on intra-party democracy in Malawi. Intra-party democracy is essential as it promotes party unity through reduced fragmentation and factionalism, encourages a culture of democratic debate and deliberation of critical issues within the party and therefore collective ownership of decisions. Further, it creates legitimate internal conflict management systems and finally, reduces opportunistic and arbitrary use of delegated authority. These are fundamental tenets of any functioning democratic entity. These elements of intra-party democracy are attainable if they are formerly stipulated and governed by the party&rsquo;s constitutional rules. Where such rules either do not exist or are not effectively enforced, major operational problems arise. These may include: non-inclusive candidate selection procedures, centralised coalition negotiation processes, unprocedural conflict management mechanisms and unconstitutional or illegitimate party conventions. Consequently, the resulting outcomes include party instability and factionalism stimulated by resignations and expulsions, declining electoral support and weak coalitions. These factors undermine the party&rsquo;s contribution to democracy. The next section gives the context and historical evolution of parties in Malawi. / South Africa

Over the past two decades, various development approaches and strategies have been devised by policymakers, international development agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and others aiming at poverty reduction in developing countries. Microfinance is a strategy that has become a hot development topic and increasingly popular since the early 1990s. A considerable amount of multi- and bilateral aid has been channeled into microfinance programs in the Third World with varying degrees of success. Microfinance involves providing financial services in the form of savings and credit opportunities to the working poor (Johnson & Rogaly, 1997). The impression left by many of the defenders of this ‘faith’ is that here lies a magic bullet that can help to raise the living standards of the poor and help them climb out of poverty. However, the real world is not so simple and information is scarce and limited to confirm the poverty reduction benefits accrued by microfinance interventions. To this effect, it may be argued that overselling the benefits of microfinance runs the risk of misunderstanding what realistically can be expected from microfinance. This can lead to disillusionment when microfinance fails to live up to its expectations. However, like all development interventions, donors, governments, and other interested parties demand evaluations and impact assessment studies to ascertain the achievements and failures of microfinance programs. This research paper focused on the assessment of microfinance efficacy on poverty reduction. The study employs indicator-based method of evaluation and draws on a new cross-sectional survey of nearly 610 households, some of which are served by microfinance institution. The results unraveled microfinance efficacy on poverty reduction and offer another set of risk management and coping options in times of shocks and disasters. Households that have access to the MFI programs had increased consumption and durable assets than the control group of non clients. The study concludes that microfinance makes a meaningful contribution to poverty reduction, significant improvements in livelihood and enables the participants to escape poverty. Therefore, MFI client households are relatively better off than non clients in as far as poverty levels are concerned.

Social protection measures are poverty reduction interventions implemented to assist in reducing poverty shocks of communities. This study considered the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) that has been implemented in Malawi with the aim of reducing poverty amongst subsistence farmers by providing them with subsidized farm inputs. The study was conducted in the rural area of Lilongwe District, under Traditional Authority Kabudula. The study mainly focussed on the outcomes of implementing the FISP and it entails whether or not the poverty reduction intervention is really achieving its goals. Thus, the study greatly evaluates the effectiveness of subsidizing farm inputs in reducing poverty amongst households in rural communities characterised by subsistence farming. This study was mainly qualitative in nature and data was collected through interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Some quantitative data for specific trends of national indicators was collected through document. Mainly, content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data and descriptive statistical analysis with the aid of Microsoft Excel was engaged to analyse the quantitative data. The study found that that FISP assist in household food security only in the short term. Among the reasons cited, the package size received by households has become smaller with sharing tendencies that have been devised to help households that do not receive the inputs or qualify to receive them. This practice is compromising the agricultural productivity in terms of quantities as it lasts only in the short-term before the next harvest. When households’ food reserves are depleted, households become food insecure and poverty sets in again. The study thus reveals that FISP implementation is not operating as a sustainable programme as its intended goal is not being achieved in the long-term. The study also found that coupled with the fact that there is no clear policy guidelines on graduation and that there is continued benefitting of the same beneficiaries, FISP is nowhere close to its phasing-out stage in social protection perspective.