LILONGWE, 25 Apr 2006 (IRIN) - In an interview with IRIN, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Country Coordinator Michael Keating talks about Malawi's success in tackling food shortages, and its ongoing battle with poverty and corruption.

QUESTION: How has the country managed to deal with the food crisis, which at its height threatened five million people?

ANSWER: Six or eight months ago, many were predicting catastrophe. Thanks to the partnership between government, donors, the UN and civil society, these predictions have not come true.

Government took a strong lead and donors have responded generously to enable the import and distribution of maize and other food items to roughly 40 percent of the population. The launch by the president [Bingu wa Mutharika] of the 'Feed the Nation Fund' sent a powerful signal about the determination of the country to take the lead in managing the crisis.

The UN Appeal launched in August 2005 helped raise additional resources and has helped ensure that many vulnerable people, notably children and lactating mothers, received assistance - whether through food distribution, nutritional support, protection from exploitation and in many other ways.

However, many poor people have paid a heavy price. It is still too early to assess this, but it is likely to include increased incidence of diseases such as HIV and AIDS, malaria and TB, higher levels of chronic malnutrition, social disruption in communities and loss of assets at the household level.

The efficiency and effectiveness of the steps taken to procure, import and distribute agricultural inputs and maize needs to be assessed. This will be part of a broad evaluation commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture of the national response to the food shortage [and] this should reveal valuable lessons for the future.

In the long run, the route to food security lies in promoting economic growth and alternatives to reliance upon maize, including jobs in other sectors such as food processing, small industry and services. Immediate priorities must include agricultural diversification, reducing dependence upon rain fed agriculture and improving marketing and communication infrastructure.

Q: Are Millennium Development Goals (MDG�s) achievable for Malawi?

A: Yes. Malawi is already on track to achieve a number of MDGs, namely child mortality and access to safe drinking water. Huge progress is being made in HIV and AIDS.

In other areas, things are not looking so good. Malawi has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. While the numbers of children in primary schools has increased, the quality of education remains poor and drop-out rates high. Environmental degradation continues apace. Overall success in fighting poverty and promoting economic growth will depend upon a combination of good planning, implementation, and resources.

Malawi is not short of policies and plans. The Malawi Growth and Development Strategy provides a basis for all three. One criticism of the previous national planning document, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), was that it was not implemented, and not revisited in light of effective monitoring and evaluation.

Moreover, confidence in the previous government's ability to manage resources and ensure that the budget served as a vehicle for advancing national development plans was low.

That has now changed. The challenge now is to use the MGDS as the basis for identifying measurable MDG targets and for figuring out what capacities - in terms of people, institutions, governance arrangements - as well as what level of resources are required to achieve the targets.

Existing resources can be used more effectively, and more resources are needed from the donor community. Following last year's G8 Summit, donors have committed to increasing their levels of support to developing countries - but that commitment will only fully materialize if countries like Malawi show that they have the plans and practical capacities and practical capacities to improve governance and the investment climate and to use additional resources to achieve results.

Q: Has there been an improvement in poverty reduction as some statistics suggest?

A: The 2004/5 Income and Household Survey estimate of 52.4 percent poverty rate should not be compared to the 65.3 percent estimate in the 1998 survey since measuring instruments and methods were revised and improved. However, based on a comparable measure of expenditure per capita and consistent poverty lines, there has been very little change in poverty from 1998 (53.8 percent) to 2005 (52.4 percent).

The more fundamental point is that Malawi remains one of the poorest countries in Africa. It has been blessed by an absence of armed conflict, unlike many of its neighbours in recent decades. But of the countries that have not experienced armed conflict, Malawi is the poorest in Africa. This is what has to change.

Q: Are political differences affecting development in Malawi?

A: Malawi is still a young democracy. It has traveled a long way in the last 15 years, whether in terms of human rights, rule of law, press freedom and so on - one should not forget that.

But there remain many problems. Ambiguities in the constitution are legion. The independence of the three branches of government cannot be taken for granted. Last year saw some ugly scenes in parliament; government business was derailed by the impeachment issue. I was very concerned that passage of the budget last year might have been blocked; the UN forcefully added its voice to those who warned that failure to pass the budget would negatively impact development and hurt the poor.

The delay in local government elections is an area of concern, not just because they are constitutionally mandated but because local elections are about ensuring more accountable use of resources at the local level.

As to political differences on development issues, it is not clear to me whether there are real differences of opinion between the political parties. I look forward to the day when there are informed debates in Parliament over how best development resources should be used to achieve the MDGs and promote economic growth.

Q: Is the government doing enough in the fight against corruption?

A: The Government has totally changed the atmosphere when it comes to the fight against corruption. I have heard the president say that he considers corruption to be a 'crime against humanity'. The Anti-corruption Bureau has received his full support and its capacity has been strengthened, with support from donors.

There have been some recent high profile cases, for example involving the former Minister of Education, that have underscored the determination of the ACB [Anti Corruption Bureau]. An outstanding challenge is to address the large backlog of prosecution cases.

Of course corruption nevertheless remains a major problem; various studies show that too many institutions are perceived by the public as corrupt. Nothing less than a comprehensive national strategy to tackle corruption is needed, embracing measures to strengthen financial management and accountability, to reduce the incentives and increase the penalties for corrupt practices, and to communicate the profoundly negative consequences of corruption on efforts to fight poverty and promote business.