Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / Generally, commodity prices immediately after harvest tend to be low because of supply glut and rise over time away from harvest as supply shrinks and demand remains virtually unchanged. Unfortunately, because many Malawian farmers do not have effective storage, they do not have any commodity for sale when prices are high. To help improve the income Malawian farmers may generate from their activities, this thesis explored the feasibility of hybridizing the two forms of price risk management systems in Malawi to minimize their individual weaknesses and enhance their collective benefits. The two risk management systems are forward contracts and warehouse receipt systems. Forward contracts allow farmers and their buyers to agree on a future delivery date and commodity price. On the agreed date, the farmer delivers the commodity and receives the agreed price. It allows farmers to pass downward price risk to buyers and guarantees a fixed price. As private transactions, forward contracts are not regulated by the Government, and present opportunism and enforcement challenges. Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) enables farmers to deposit their crop in the care of a warehouse operator and sell the crop when and where they choose. Farmers, therefore, incur both upside and downside price movement but avoid some of the opportunism and enforcement challenges presented by forward contracts. The thesis explored the net benefits of developing a hybrid system that allow forward contracts with warehouse receipt enforcement mechanisms. Thus, farmers are guaranteed a minimum price at some future date and the deposited commodity is used as the security supporting the guaranteed minimum price. The buyer also deposits a performance bond as commitment to purchase the commodity. The costs associated with these transactions are real and could affect participation. The thesis provides a process for assessing these transaction costs and incorporating them into the effectiveness of forward contracts, warehouse receipt systems and the hybrid program. The mathematical model example has proved that the hybrid system guarantees a fixed margin to the farmer over and above the harvest price and WRS cost as opposed to fluctuating margins under WRS alone. The thesis has identified three factors that can lead to the successful implementation of this hybrid system in Malawi and they include: the availability of the warehouse receipt bill, reliable warehouse certification which is done by AHCX and ACE on third party warehouse operators; and the availability of performance guarantee assuring that the quantities and quality of goods match those specified by the warehouse receipt. The thesis has also identified two factors that could hinder a successful implementation of this hybrid program and they include: first, low scale of warehousing operations under WRS which could deny most farmers a chance to access and benefit from this hybrid sytem and the commodity exchanges may not benefit from the economies of scale provided by large volumes of commodities produced in rural areas. Second, the absence of a harmonized national grading standard which possess a challenge when engaging in international trade. Finally, the thesis has made three recommendations for the successful implementation of the hybrid program as follows: Taking the system close to the producers to mitigate potentially high transportation costs; educating and selling the system to the stakeholders to increase adoption rate; and push for the implementation of national standardized grading regulations.

This study explores the complex factors that contribute to low youth education attendance in Malawi. While current education and youth policy is framed in terms of providing access to quality education for all Malawians, this has proved challenging to implement in practice. A qualitative approach involving a range of stakeholders was adopted. 341 respondents participated in one–to-one and group interviews and provided in-depth insights into the issues affecting educational attendance. Data was thematically coded using NVivo and network analysis was used to determine the complexity of the interrelationships of the factors undermining youth attendance. Human capital theory (HCT) underpins the design of the study and the analysis of the data collected; however, HCT alone was insufficient to account for patterns in the data and therefore post-colonial, women's empowerment, motivation, decentralization, corruption and media development theories were used to complement and extend HCT in the analysis undertaken. Furthermore, while, in HCT, education and training are considered strategies for empowering people to make informed choices, enter employment and contribute to personal and national development, a central concern of the Malawian education system is the preparation of young people, and particularly young women, to undertake traditional roles. This study demonstrates that youth, especially young women in rural settings, face many challenges to their remaining in education and achieving employment outcomes beyond traditional expectations. This also limits the potential for wider-ranging social changes and economic development. Examples provided illustrate how sector-wide patterns of educational resourcing and provision, organisational issues, teacher and learner attitudes, and cultural practices interact. Policy formation and evaluation in Malawi are driven by external funder priorities and political expediency rather than being evidence-based. This study, contrastingly, offers an empirical basis for policy formation and decision-making vis-a-vis youth education, and proposes a strategic plan to improve levels of education attendance.

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to explore factors that influenced safer sex practices in Malawi. A quantitative, explorative, descriptive study was conducted to determine why the prevalence of new HIV infections was still high in Malawi despite. Questionnaires were used to collect data. Sexually active men, women, boys and girls that participated in the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation community awareness activities participated in this study. The study found that demographic, socio-economic and knowledge-related factors influence safer sex practices in Malawi. Various modifying factors played a role in influencing the individuals’ perception of susceptibility, severity, barriers and benefits of practising safer sex. The findings indicated that individuals generally had a broad knowledge of the spread and prevention of HIV. The Health Belief Model was used as theoretical framework for the study / Health Studies

This study investigates and expands learning associated with the co-management of fisheries resources to inform extension and training in the fisheries sector in two case study sites in Malawi. The study was located in the field of environmental education with a specific focus on community learning, agency and sustainability practices in co-management of fisheries resources. It focuses on how fisheries stakeholder learning can be mediated through expansive social learning processes to inform extension and training in the Malawi fisheries sector and aims at understanding learning as an emergent, agency centred process of change through social learning models that are said to have power to mobilise community agency for change. The empirical research for the study was conducted in two Malawian fishing communities: in Lake Malombe and the south-east arm of Lake Malawi using qualitative case study research design. The two sites were selected because they were the first sites in Malawi to implement fisheries co-management programmes following the failure of centralised management of fisheries resources. Data was generated through interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis, observations and change laboratory workshops in both sites. The two sites fall under one administrative office based in Mangochi where the two important institutions of the sector – the Fisheries Research Unit of the Department of Fisheries and the Fisheries College (a government institution responsible for the training of extension services) are also based. Both sites have implemented new governance structures named Beach Village Committees which are community-based organisational structures that function in parallel with traditional authorities to manage the fishery. Contextual and literature review work showed that extension services and programmes over the past hundred years, as observed in the fisheries sector in Malawi and in extension services elsewhere, have co-evolved with approaches to natural resources management. Early approaches to natural resources management involved traditional management (associated extension services and programmes were community based); later fisheries governance practices changed to centralised management and associated extension approaches were mainly top-down involving command and control or technology transfer. These early approaches have been problematic as resource users were pushed away from their own resources and were viewed as poachers. This resulted in loss of ownership among resources users. Recently in Malawi, after the change of government to democracy in 1994, fisheries management policy focused on co-management and/or adaptive co-management approaches, an approach that has also been adopted in other African water bodies. This has implications for extension service programmes in the fisheries sector that are not yet well defined. The study’s literature review revealed that co-management approaches assume collaborative learning, or co-learning, also termed social learning, or approaches that promote the engagement of different actors who are working on shared practice. They also assume a new form of agency among co-management stakeholders and extension workers. However, the theoretical foundations for establishing co-learning or social learning approaches in support of co-management policies are not well established in the fisheries co-management sector in Malawi, nor are the practices of how to support co-learning amongst diverse stakeholders in the fisheries co-management in the Lake Malawi context. This study sought to address this gap in knowledge and practice.

The research assessed the implementation of the Performance Management System (PMS) in the Malawian civil service using a change diagnostic model called ‘causal model of organisational performance change’ by Burke and Litwin (1992). The motivation for the research topic comes from a background of the Malawi Government’s goal of improving service delivery to the public. The government launched the performance management system as one of the change interventions that would assist in achieving its service provision goal. For the achievement of the service provision goals, the PMS had to be implemented effectively. Using an integrative approach, the research employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to obtain data that was structured around the organisational elements of the Burke-Litwin model. Using purposive sampling, 195 departments in the Malawian Civil Service formed the population from which the sample was drawn. Of the 195 departments, 69 departments, represented by an officer from each department, participated in the study. Three departments namely; The Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), The Department of Human Resource Management and Development (DHRMD) and The Civil Service Commission (CSC) were included in the sample in addition to the 69 departments. These three departments were chosen due to their involvement in the formulation and implementation of the Performance Management System (PMS). Information from the three departments was obtained through interviews while questionnaires were administered to the remaining sample subjects. The research found that both the transformational and transactional factors were lacking in supporting the implementation of the PMS in Malawian civil service. Fundamental prerequisites like systems’ compatibility, assessment of enabling culture and amendments of relevant laws were not considered before the implementation of the system. Upon commencement of the implementation process the support from political leaders and donors declined and the evaluation process lacked inclusion of key stakeholders. The current research expands the application of the Burke-Litwin model in assessing the ‘post change intervention’ implementation processes. The findings could possibly provide valuable input in the form of the following recommendations: The government should consider working on the culture of the civil servants, the capacity of the implementing structure of PMS, the evaluation of the PMS and the prerequisites for the programme. The government should consider being inclusive when evaluating PMS and in assessing the performance of employees, and lastly, there is need to fully utilise technology and the functional position of stakeholders like the Civil Service Commission.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / This study identifies and discusses the challenges of negotiation as a conflict management tool with reference to the negotiation process of the land conflict in the Mulanje district of Malawi between tea companies and the villagers who live around the tea estates. Although the negotiation process started on 15th January 2000, there were no expected outcomes as of end of October 2008. In order to identify the challenges of the negotiation process, the study has specifically provided in-depth analyses of the land conflict and the negotiation process in Mulanje. The study consequently has recommended, among other things, the introduction of conflict transformation initiatives as a way of mending the relationship between the conflicting parties, institutionalization of conflict management training, review of the role of government and strategic cooperation of stakeholders in addressing the structural causes of conflicts among other recommendations. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / The study investigated the information behaviour of fourth year students of Mzuzu University in Malawi. The study specifically intended to establish the information needs, preferred information sources and information seeking behaviours of fourth year students at Mzuzu University. The study also aimed at ascertaining whether emotions experienced by these students conformed to some of those identified by Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process (ISP) model. The study used the Kuhlthau’s Information Search Process model as a theoretical framework because of its being closer to reality on how students search for information. The target population of the study was seven hundred and fifty two (752) fourth year students belonging to the five faculties of the University (Mzuzu University website, 2013). A mixed method survey employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches was used. The study used the probability sampling method. Specifically, stratified sampling in which students were divided into different strata according to the faculty they belong to was adopted. The study used the sample size of two hundred and fifty four (254) students of which two hundred and forty three (243) responded to the questionnaire. The results of the study revealed that most of the fourth year students (65.4%) needed information for their academic studies. The study also found that most of these students (62.5%) preferred electronic and not printed information sources. Most students indicated that they did not use e-journals (66%), subscription databases (94%) or printed journals (52%). As sources of information, students relied mainly on the Internet (64.6%), search engines like Google (56.2%) and the OPAC (45%). When searching for information, the majority of students did not use truncation (98.3%) or Boolean logic (98.8%).It has also been established that students did not fully conform to Kuhlthau’s ISP model of information behaviour. Some of the obstacles met during information seeking were lack of financial resources as well as lack of essential textbooks and important books. The findings suggest that the students lack information literacy skills and it is recommended that the university should re-examine its information literacy education. It is expected that the findings of this study will assist the researcher and the Mzuzu University library and the Learning Resources Centre to establish more effective and user centred services to meet the needs of their students. It also adds to the body of knowledge on information behaviour of students, especially in Malawi.

The thesis contains three essays that investigate the effects of macroeconomic reforms on the Malawian economy between 1980 and 2010. Specifically, the thesis tries to answer three broad questions. First, what is the effect of financial reforms on consumption behavior in Malawi? Second, how did monetary transmission mechanism in Malawi change over time following the implementation of financial reforms? Last, how did the monetary policy respond to foreign aid increases following the implementation of financial reforms in the country? Although answers for these questions are available for other developing countries where abundant research has been conducted, this is not the case in Malawi. Existing research on Malawi has not accounted for the effects of the reforms on consumption behavior, the evolution of the transmission mechanism over time and the monetary policy impact of aid on the economy. Yet such information is very useful in the design and proper implementation of financial and monetary policies that contribute to price stability and economic growth. The first essay assesses whether financial reforms has had a statistically significant effect on Malawi consumption behaviour. More specifically, the essay starts by examining the existence of Permanent Income Hypothesis (PIH) and then proceed to assess whether the reforms have affected consumption behaviour by reducing liquidity constraints. The essay presents a robust account of the financial reforms and constructs financial reform indices for the country. These indices are then used to exam the effects of the reforms on consumption. The essay finds that the PIH does not hold in Malawi. Most consumers are current income consumers (rule-of-thumb). They consume from “hand to mouth” and very little is left to smooth consumption in their life time. The reforms did not shift current income consumers to permanent income consumers. Empirical evidence from the thesis shows that the main failure of the PIH hypothesis is due to liquidity constraint which is manifested in the under development of the financial market and unstable macroeconomic conditions in Malawi. Weak financial institutions, both structural and operational have impacted negatively on the accessibility of financial resources for most Malawians despite the reforms. This is a bigger lesson for policy makers to consider in the preparation of future broad based financial reforms. The second essay provides an empirical analysis of the lag effect of implementing financial reforms on price stability and economic growth. We use the monetary transmission mechanism framework based on the time varying parameter vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model with stochastic volatility. It is becoming clear from literature that financial reforms can change the transmission mechanism by changing the overall impact of the policy or by altering the transmission channels overtime. Therefore, the impact of monetary policy on price stability and output growth can vary and portray delayed effects overtime. The essay finds that inflation, real output and exchange rate responses to monetary policy shocks vary over the period under review. Importantly, beginning mid-2000, the monetary policy transmission performed consistently with predictions of economic theory and there is no evidence of price puzzle as found in the previous literature on Malawi. In the last essay, a Bayesian Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model for Malawi is developed and estimated to account for the short-run monetary response to aid inflows in Malawi between 1980 and 2010. The model incorporated the rational expectations of economic agents based on micro foundations. The estimated model showed that monetary authorities reacted to foreign aid inflows. Based on how aid was spent and absorbed in Malawi, aid inflows appeared to be associated with depreciations of the exchange rate rather than the expected real appreciation. There is also evidence of limited impact of a positive aid shock on depreciation and inflation when RBM targets monetary aggregates compared to when the authorities use the Taylor rule and incomplete sterilisation. On the other hand, the thesis found that the implication of increased aid inflows became more prominent in an economy comprising of few economic agents having access to financial assets. Furthermore, the monetary policy responses are much clear consistent with economic theory in a market with less controls over prices and open capital account. The contribution of the thesis to the literature is that, firstly, this looks into the effects of macroeconomic reforms on economic activities in the context of a Sub-Saharan Africa country, Malawi. The thesis enhances the understanding of the effects of macroeconomic reforms on consumption, evolution of monetary policy overtime and the impact of aid inflows on the conduct of monetary policy in Malawi in ways that have not been done before. Secondly, the thesis takes advantages of multivariate econometric methodologies in an attempt to capture both the dynamics of time series data and the relationship among key macroeconomic variables. The thesis develops and estimates a DSGE model for Malawi which is derived from microeconomic foundations of optimisation problem, making it less susceptible to the Lucas critique and thus suitable for policy analysis. The results will help policy makers and development partners such as the IMF and the World Bank in the design of policies and programs that aim at improving the financial sector that is accommodative of achieving price stability and economic growth in Malawi. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Economics / PhD / unrestricted

M.A. (Public Management and Governance) / This study sought to assess the main outcomes of the 2003 Maputo Declaration encapsulating the political decision of the Heads of State of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), within the framework of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), to allocate at least 10% of national public budgets to the agriculture sector. The scope of the assessment included the levels, composition, efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditures in the agriculture sector. For this reason, the study not only sought to find out the calibration of the levels and quantities of resources allocated to, or spent in the agriculture sector, but also undertook a diagnosis of the composition and patterns in resource allocations and expenditures in the agriculture sector. The study, designed in form of an exploratory and pilot research, was conducted in two African countries (Rwanda and Malawi) and adopted an orientation towards discovering ideas and insights – not for purposes of coming up with final answers or decisions, but rather for providing a better understanding of the situation to inform the construction of larger research efforts. Specifically, the study aimed to: i) determine the patterns in public agriculture allocations and expenditure after the Maputo Declaration; ii) to identify the factors that determine or influence the levels and composition of budgetary allocations and expenditure in the public agricultural sector. From the population frame comprising all 54 member states of the African Union, a purposive stratified sampling method was employed to select the two countries. A judicious blend of qualitative and quantitative methods and attendant techniques was employed in data collection and analysis. Qualitative information was collected largely using a literature review and participatory research methods, such as semi-structured interviews with key informants. On the other hand, quantitative information was collected using a suite of methods and tools, such as simple questionnaires administered among specific country respondents. Anecdotal evidence drawn from literature review showed that Malawi allocates well above the 10% CAADP target for its national resources to agriculture, while Rwanda, in spite of being the first country on the continent to sign the CAADP Compact, allocates less than 10% of its public resources to the sector. The research, undertaking a deeper analysis revealed that Malawi exhibited consistent increases in the percentages of agricultural expenditure as a share of the national expenditure for the entire period under study (2000 to 2013), except in 2002/03 and in 2008/09. In fact, there is evidence that Malawi spent over 30% of its national resources on agriculture, although this percentage declined to 24.7% in the subsequent year. Most of Malawi’s expenditure is explained by the thrust that the government had placed on farm-input subsidies. It is also noteworthy that a significant proportion of Malawi’s agriculture budget (about 80%) is funded by external donors. The research revealed that the expectations of agriculture’s contribution to the growth and development of the national economy forms part of the major explanations behind the gigantic proportions of the national budget allocated to the agricultural sector. This is consistent with findings of another study that showed that show that agricultural-led economic growth has a greater impact on poverty reduction than does the same level of growth driven by non-agricultural sectors. Rwanda exhibited clearly different trends in agriculture expenditure from those exhibited by Malawi; with the exception of a spike recorded in 2001-2002, the subsequent periods all the way to the year 2006 show a consistent decline in expenditure. This study revealed that the share of agriculture expenditure in the national total fell from 8.6% recorded in 2002 to 3.3% in 2006. The patterns in agriculture budget allocations and public expenditure in Rwanda continued to drop and, in the best case scenario, the allocation patterns stagnated. The reasons for the drop before 2007 are unclear. However, Rwanda registered a consistent rise in public expenditure in the agricultural sector after 2007, both in absolute and relative terms. It is recalled that Rwanda was the first country on the continent to sign the CAADP Compact in 2007.