\u201cThere\u2019s no food if there\u2019s no nsima.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or so I learned from a former colleague as he stared disapprovingly at my grilled cheese sandwich over lunch one day. The heavy white porridge of maize flour is Malawi\u2019s staple food and is produced and consumed across the country\u2014uniting all income, class, religious, and tribal divides. It\u2019s also an object of national pride; criticizing the dish is a surefire way to get on a Malawian\u2019s bad side.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is part of our culture. Our parents and grandparents all ate nsima,\u201d says Felix Minjale, Programs Officer with the Hunger Project in Malawi.<\/p>\n
Nsima\u2019s main ingredient is critical to the country\u2019s food security\u20142.4 million tons of maize is needed every year to feed Malawi\u2019s 15 million people.<\/p>\n
Reaching this goal draws on the country\u2019s collective energy. The most recent Malawi census found that 80 per cent of Malawians are subsistence farmers consumed by the yearly process of planting, fertilizing, weeding, harvesting and milling maize.<\/p>\n
While visiting a rural area just outside Blantyre\u2019s city centre, I asked resident Linnah Matanya how many people there farmed maize. She looked surprised by the apparent naivet\u00e9 of the question before answering. \u201cEveryone,\u201d she said. \u201cWithout maize, we die. Full stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
And maize isn\u2019t just a rural preoccupation; 15 per cent of urbanites are subsistence farmers. Just about everyone I talk to in the city supports their extended family\u2019s maize field.<\/p>\n
Jessey Kachule is a business owner in Blantyre. As a child, her parents would regularly haul her to her grandparents\u2019 village to work in their field.<\/p>\n
In her large office with a highway view, Kachule reminisces about those days. \u201cThe best part was when we ate the maize straight from the field . . . But the part I hated most was removing the seeds from the cob and your thumb would get all swollen,\u201d she says with a laugh before turning serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt taught us children how to be responsible,\u201d she says, \u201cand to appreciate what we had in town.\u201d<\/p>\n
While she no longer has time to work in the field, she is still expected to help her grandparents\u2019 village by sending fertilizer and money.<\/p>\n
Maize shortages caused famine in Malawi in 1991, 2002, and 2005, so this rural-urban collaboration seems to be an important part of fending off the too familiar spectre of hunger.<\/p>\n
But the country is technically riding a wave of food security. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a global organization that predicts food shortages, reported that Malawi\u2019s national grains stock is stable. Andrew Daudi, secretary for Malawi\u2019s agriculture ministry, recently said that 3.9 million tons of maize is expected to be harvested this year.<\/p>\n
Matanya, however, doesn\u2019t want to feel complacent since rains have been sparse lately and harvesting season is still three months away. \u201cWe don\u2019t know God\u2019s mind. He can do anything to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
And no fertile ground is left unturned in Malawi\u2019s yearly quest for sustenance. Maize stalks can appear anywhere\u2014whether they\u2019re by the side of a gas station or sandwiched between a plastics factory and a highway.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a national dependence that may be hard to understand for those from industrialized countries where incomes are disposable and cheap imported foods flood the shelves.<\/p>\n
\u201cCountries like South Africa don\u2019t need a staple food because they have so much,\u201d says Matanya.<\/p>\n
But even Kachule, who can access imported food, sticks close to corn. Before a busy workday, she\u2019ll eat a bowl of maize porridge using cobs from her grandparent\u2019s garden. According to her, \u201cIt just sustains you better than anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Angela Pereira<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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