Malawi Growth and Development Strategy - from poverty to prosperity 2006-2011.

The Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) is the overarching strategy for Malawi for the next five years, from 2006/07 to 2010/2011 fiscal years. The purpose of the MGDS is to serve as a single reference document for policy makers in Government; the Private Sector; Civil Society Organizations; Donors and Cooperating Partners and the general public on socio-economic growth and development priorities for Malawi. The overriding philosophy of the MGDS is poverty reduction through sustainable economic growth and infrastructure development. The MGDS identifies six key priority areas which define the direction the country intends to take in the next five years to achieve economic growth and wealth creation which are critical for immediate improvement in the economic well-being of Malawians. These are agriculture and food security; irrigation and water development; transport infrastructure development; energy generation and supply; integrated rural development; prevention and management of nutrition disorders, HIV and AIDS. The long-term goal is to make Malawi a hunger-free nation. The medium term expected outcome is that food will be available for all Malawians in sufficient quantities and qualities, at affordable prices. Main strategies include: Improving agricultural productivity; Implementing policies to improve the functioning of maize and other food crop markets; Implementing policies that do not distort the market and which reduce dependency on food aid; Putting in place an effective early warning system; Promoting income generating activities; Improving the coordination and management of food aid and imports; and Improving the ability to import and distribute food through better domestic regional connectivity, and Construction of steel bin silos in strategic areas to improve medium to long term food storage capacity.
These six key priority areas will accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), thereby recognizing the importance of sectors of health, education, gender, environment and governance. In this regard, the MGDS maintains a balance between the economic and social sectors of the economy. In the mediumterm, this is expected to bring about prosperity, reduce poverty and achieve the MDGs in order to make life better for all Malawians. In order to support the six key priority areas, the development framework of the MGDS is built around five broad thematic areas namely sustainable economic growth; social protection; social development; infrastructure development; and improved governance. The activities in the themes have been systematically prioritized and realistically costed taking into account the limited resource envelope.
The MGDS builds on the Malawi Economic Growth Strategy (MEGS) that emphasizes the need to create a conducive environment for private sector investment to stimulate economic growth. As such it recognizes the important role of the private sector in promoting economic growth. It also incorporates lessons from the implementation of the Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy (MPRS). Hence, the MGDS recognizes the need to invest in social development through education, health, good governance and the need to protect the most vulnerable. It is expected that value adding and smallholder productivity will be increased while orienting smallholders to greater commercialization and international competitiveness. The strategy also envisages increased livestock production to meet domestic demand. Key strategies include: contract farming, strengthening linkages of farmers to markets, creating a balance between domestic and export oriented markets and provide effective extension services.