Subsistence Farming

It may be hard to remember as the ice and snow bear down on you this time of year, but not so long ago it wasn’t uncommon to step into the backyards of someone’s house and see a small vegetable garden growing in the heat of summer. I know my Mom and I enjoy spending time planting, watering and tending to our little gardens, and we certainly enjoy the fruits that come from our labor. Growing fruits and vegetables in Pittsburgh is enjoyable, but what I have come to realize is how blessed I am to be able to garden for fun as opposed to here in Malawi where gardening/farming is life. 

As the rains continue to fall here, the crops continue to grow (thank goodness). A good rainy season is often the key to a good harvest in April. Before the rains come, months of back breaking work go into ensuring a good harvest for the year. Hundreds of hours are spent doing the incredibly hard work of creating mounds by hand to put seeds in. Most of this work is done in the hottest part of the year under the African sun right before the rains begin.

Farming is such an integral part of the Malawian culture. Almost everyone here in Malawi has a garden/farm where they grow crops.  75% of the food that is consumed in the country comes from subsistence farming, which means each family growing their own crops that will feed their families.  The crops that are grown provide the main source of food, and also may provide the only source of income for many families when they are able to sell some of their excess crops at a local market.

Like most things in Malawi, farming has its challenges. The first challenge that it faces (besides being dependent upon a good rainy season) is simply lack of land. 20% of Malawi is covered by the lake. Of the remaining area, only 1/3 of the land is suitable for farming. The rest of the land is covered by mountains, forests, or other rough pastures that are not conducive to good farming.  With Malawi’s fast growing population, the lack of farming area is a serious problem.

As a result of the lack of land many issues arise.  One of the main problems that lack of suitable farming land creates is deforestation. In order to create more farm land, many forests and trees are cut down, resulting in huge deforestation problems across the country. Without wood from these forests, building structures, making fires to cook on, and all other activities that require lumber and wood are not affordable or attainable.  Deforestation also causes problems such as soil erosion.  Another problem that arises because of the lack of land is that families have to go much farther away from their homes in order to find land suitable for growing crops. Individuals may travel miles on foot in order to reach land that they can farm. It is not uncommon to see crops growing on steep hillsides and other marginal lands as a result of these issues. 

If a family does overcome the first obstacle of finding someplace to farm, there are still other hardships they will face. Because the same crops are planted year after year, the soil becomes less fertile. Less fertile soil means the crops will not be as plentiful.  As a result of these issues and others, the government began to subsidize different seed varieties and fertilizers for crops to ensure good harvests in 2005. These measures were put in place after several years of droughts and poor harvests that caused massive food shortages throughout the country. 

Obstacles such as lack of rain/drought, lack of farm-able land area and decreased soil nutrients are what farmers here in Malawi face every season. Fortunately, steps are being taken to improve the farming environment. All of my students here at St. Andrews take agriculture all four years they are here in order to teach the next generation proper ways to build a farm, ways to rotate crops in order to keep soil fertile, and ways to maintain an environment that is supportive of farming (such as avoiding deforestation). 

As hard as it is to see the many struggles that farmers in Malawi face, I am encouraged and amazed by their resilience and hard work. They work incredibly hard to ensure their family has a way to survive. So as the ice and snow continue to fall this week, I encourage you to remember your summertime garden, and as you do please lift all those facing the many obstacles of farming here in Malawi up in your thoughts and prayers.