Chichewa and Value Chains

Not wanting to sit idle while I waited for work to begin, I set out on the streets of Lilongwe to practice my Chichewa (the local language) and do some research on how the local markets function. Malawians are tremendously friendly people and literally almost everyone I pass is keen to assist with directions, greetings, and getting me on the fast track to fluency in Chichewa. Whether or not I ever get there is a different story but the journey is always accompanied by new friends and lots of laughter. For those of you playing along at home, I've set up a Chichewa word-of-the-week quiz! Pang'ono pang'ono mudzalakhula Chichewa!

Markets are the bustling epicentre of the city and how they work defines the livelihoods of much of the urban population. However, they are only the end of a longer chain of interactions and processes that stretch all the way back to the producers and their livelihoods. These Value Chains have become the focus of much attention in poverty alleviation strategies. By supporting and strengthening existing value chains, or pioneering new branches of existing ones, organizations have tremendous potential to have significant and sustainable impact. A strong value chain for any product can mean increased stability and opportunity for the rural poor.

Value chains are tremendously complex systems and I still have much to learn. I spent a few days visiting different markets, warehouses, and mills around Lilongwe learning about rice, fish, and potato value chains. All of the information on transportation, costs, value added by processing, and storage, provide valuable insight into how value chains function for some of the major commodities in Malawi. But the urban environment only shows one end of the value chain and the cassava flour market is still in comparative infancy. On Monday I will be heading north to visit a cassava flour producer for two weeks to learn about the rural beginning of the value chain for cassava and look for opportunities to strengthen the links in the chain.

Adapting to Malawi

Everything towards the end of April seemed to be moving very quickly. I was cramming for finals while frantically trying to pack and less than 12 hours after my last final I found myself at the airport headed towards training in Toronto. Pre departure training also afforded few breaks. Twenty-three other Junior Fellows heading to Ghana and Malawi all crammed into a house while we engaged in a week of intensive training. Case studies, presentations, role playing, question periods, and reflections made it one of the longest but most valuable weeks of education I’ve ever had.

I think the biggest thing I learned from pre-dep is that how I think is more important than what I know. Overseas, there are no easy answers and the traditional learning environment where we are used to having an instructor present facts isn’t always present and may be incorrect when it is. It is more important to be able to ask critical questions and frame a thought process that will allow one to be effective in any situation. In a foreign environment, little is certain and circumstances can change very quickly. To be effective and create lasting change we need to be able to adapt.

I have now arrived in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, and the pace of life has slowed considerably. Unfortunately, my initial placement with CADECO and TearFund in water and sanitation did not work out and so adapting is exactly what I am doing. The new initiative that TearFund had planned for this summer is not quite ready to begin so, in order to maximize my effectiveness in Malawi, I was partnered with a different organization in the agriculture sector.

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has been working on improving the market for cassava (a kind of tuber – similar to a potato) in Malawi. Cassava is ideal for the conditions of the region. It is very drought resistant, requires few nutrients, and can remain in the ground for up to three years – a tremendous form of food security. However, the crop itself is vastly overshadowed by the production of maize and cassava has little comparative market value. IITA is working to help pioneer new market opportunities for processing cassava into starch (for adhesives) and flour to improve incomes for farmers and increase food security in rural areas.

However, my jump to agriculture happened only very recently, and since my boss at IITA has been out of the office for the past week, my specific role will not be finalized until tomorrow. Things sometimes move slowly, and in the meantime I will have to be patient and adaptable.

Engineering in Development

After a somewhat tumultuous exam period and frantic final preparations, I feel like I finally have an opportunity to write a little. I am thrilled to be at the beginning of what is certain to be a tremendous opportunity for learning and impact in the complex world of international development. But first, a little background on who I am, where I’m going, and some of the reasons for it.

My name is Duncan, and I have just finished my third year of civil engineering at UBC. This summer I will be traveling to the southern African country of Malawi with Engineers Without Borders as a part of their Junior Fellowship program in international development. The program is designed to send university undergraduates to Africa to help alleviate extreme poverty, gain relevant on the realities of poverty and field work, and share experiences and knowledge with both students and the general public following their placement. Ultimately, the goal is to have as much impact as possible, both in Canada and overseas, on reducing global poverty.

Often the first question that I’ve been asked about the summer is about what I will be building. Ironically, as both an engineer and a member of Engineers Without Borders, I will likely not be building any of the traditional infrastructure one would expect. As part of EWB’s approach to development, we partner with existing organizations, such as non-government organizations (NGOs), instead of running our own initiatives. As volunteers, our role is to bring a fresh perspective, provide additional skills and knowledge, and help facilitate the development of both the organizations and the communities they work with to ensure that our efforts foster sustainable growth long after our departure. Sometimes this does involve dealing with very technical issues, but there is a far greater need for assistance in providing access to simple, existing technologies and working with and improving existing systems. By working with these existing conditions instead of a new initiative, projects can be more effective in both the short and long terms.

People are at the focus of all development work, and human development ultimately needs to be driven by the local population. As a foreigner with very little understanding of local contexts, I can only serve to help facilitate the transfer of relevant skills and abilities that people can use to improve their livelihoods. To sum it up with an adaptation of a popular expression:

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day

Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime

Teach a man how to teach a man to fish and

his community will eat for a lifetime

So it is with lofty aspirations for long-term change that I find myself, mere hours out of my last final exam, beginning a week of pre-departure training in Toronto and contemplating how I can be most effective when working with an issue as complex as extreme poverty.