Rachel Bezner Kerr

PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH ON LEGUME DIVERSIFICATION WITH MALAWIAN SMALLHOLDER FARMERS FOR IMPROVED HUMAN NUTRITION AND SOIL FERTILITY

SUMMARY Legume species are uniquely suited to enhance soil productivity and provide nutrient-enriched grains and vegetables for limited-resource farmers. Yet substantial barriers to diversification with legumes exist, such as moderate yield potential and establishment costs, indicating the need for long-term engagement and farmer-centered research and extension. This review and in-depth analysis of a Malawian case study illustrates that farmer experimentation and adoption of legumes can be fostered among even the most resource-poor smallholders. Multi-educational activities and participatory research involving farmer research teams was carried out with 80 communities. Over five years more than 3000 farmers tested legumes and gained knowledge of legume contributions to child nutrition and soil productivity. The average area of expansion of legume systems was 862 m 2 in 2005; 772 m 2 for women and 956 m 2 for men indicating a gender dimension to legume adoption. Farmers chose edible legume intercrops such as pigeonpea and groundnut over the mucuna green manure system, particularly women farmers. Interestingly, expansion in area of doubled-up edible legumes (854 m2 in 2005) was practiced by more farmers, but was a smaller area than that of mucuna green manure system (1429 m 2 ). An information gap was discovered around the biological consequences of legume residue management. Education on the soil benefits of improved residue management and participatory methods of knowledge sharing were associated with enhanced labour investment; 72 % of farmers reported burying legume residues in 2005 compared to 15 % in 2000. Households reported feeding significantly more edible legumes to their children compared with control households. Participatory research that incorporated nutritional education fostered discussions within households and communities, the foundation for sustained adoption of legume-diversified systems.

Effects of a participatory agriculture and nutrition education project on child growth in northern Malawi

OBJECTIVEnTo investigate whether children in households involved in a participatory agriculture and nutrition intervention had improved growth compared to children in matched comparable households and whether the level of involvement and length of time in the project had an effect on child growth.nnnDESIGNnA prospective quasi-experimental study comparing baseline and follow-up data in intervention villages with matched subjects in comparison villages. Mixed model analyses were conducted on standardized child growth scores (weight- and height-for-age Z-scores), controlling for child age and testing for effects of length of time and intensity of village involvement in the intervention.nnnSETTINGnA participatory agriculture and nutrition project (the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities (SFHC) project) was initiated by Ekwendeni Hospital aimed at improving child nutritional status with smallholder farmers in a rural area in northern Malawi. Agricultural interventions involved intercropping legumes and visits from farmer researchers, while nutrition education involved home visits and group meetings.nnnSUBJECTSnParticipants in intervention villages were self-selected, and control participants were matched by age and household food security status of the child. Over a 6-year period, nine surveys were conducted, taking 3838 height and weight measures of children under the age of 3 years.nnnRESULTSnThere was an improvement over initial conditions of up to 0·6 in weight-for-age Z-score (WAZ; from -0·4 (sd 0·5) to 0·3 (sd 0·4)) for children in the longest involved villages, and an improvement over initial conditions of 0·8 in WAZ for children in the most intensely involved villages (from -0·6 (sd 0·4) to 0·2 (sd 0·4)).nnnCONCLUSIONSnLong-term efforts to improve child nutrition through participatory agricultural interventions had a significant effect on child growth.

Breastfeeding and Mixed Feeding Practices in Malawi: Timing, Reasons, Decision Makers, and Child Health Consequences

Background In order to effectively promote exclusive breastfeeding, it is important to first understand who makes child-care and child-feeding decisions, and why those decisions are made; as in most parts of the world, exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age is uncommon in Malawi. Objective To characterize early infant foods in rural northern Malawi, who the decision-makers are, their motivation, and the consequences for child growth, in order to design a more effective program for improved child health and nutrition. Methods In a rural area of northern Malawi, 160 caregivers of children 6 to 48 months of age were asked to recall the childs age at introduction of 19 common early infant foods, who decided to introduce the food, and why. The heights and weights of the 160 children were measured. Results Sixty-five percent of the children were given food in their first month, and only 4% of the children were exclusively breastfed for 6 months. Mzuwula and dawale (two herbal infusions), water, and porridge were common early foods. Grandmothers introduced mzuwula to protect the children from illness; other foods were usually introduced by mothers or grandmothers in response to perceived hunger. The early introduction of porridge and dawale, but not mzuwula, was associated with worse anthropometric status. Mzuwula, which is not associated with poor growth, is usually made with boiled water and given in small amounts. Conversely, porridge, which is associated with poor child growth, is potentially contaminated and is served in larger amounts, which would displace breastmilk. Conclusions Promoters of exclusive breastfeeding should target their messages to appropriate decision makers and consider targeting foods that are most harmful to child growth.

Informal Labor and Social Relations in Northern Malawi: The Theoretical Challenges and Implications of Ganyu Labor for Food Security*

Food insecurity is a problem faced by smallholder farmers in Malawi. In any given year between 70 and 85 percent of households run out of food stocks several months prior to the next harvest. Once food stocks are depleted many households obtain food by doing ganyu, a type of piecework labor. Limited research has been carried out on ganyu. This paper uses qualitative data to examine ganyu in relation to food security in one area of northern Malawi. Using the livelihoods framework, I argue that the most common form of ganyu is both a livelihood strategy and a measure of vulnerability, rather than a type of social capital as suggested by other authors. High reliance on ganyu points to increased social stratification related to a rise in smallholder tobacco production. Women in female-headed households appear to rely more on ganyu than in married households. Policy implications of these findings are considered.

Lost and Found Crops: Agrobiodiversity, Indigenous Knowledge, and a Feminist Political Ecology of Sorghum and Finger Millet in Northern Malawi

This article tells the story of two indigenous, drought-tolerant grains, finger millet and sorghum, once grown in northern Malawi. Sorghum essentially disappeared from the landscape, replaced by maize. Finger millet persisted, despite being discouraged by colonial and postcolonial governments, but is now in decline. This case study of these two crops in northern Malawi uses data from in-depth interviews, focus groups, archival documents, and observations. I suggest that sorghum almost disappeared due to a combination of maize promotion, male migration, and pest problems. An upsurge of tobacco production, in part due to neoliberal policies, combined with gender dynamics that favor maize are reducing finger millet production. Drawing on theories of feminist political ecology, resilience, and indigenous knowledge, I argue that agrobiodiversity and related indigenous knowledge are situated in material and gendered practices. Efforts to improve social resilience in these vulnerable regions need to pay attention to processes and the intersectionality of gender, class, and other subjectivities at different scales that produce particular agricultural practices and knowledge in a given place.

Lessons from the old Green Revolution for the new: Social, environmental and nutritional issues for agricultural change in Africa:

Recent efforts for an ‘Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’ (AGRA) promote fertilizer, hybrid seeds, pesticides and biotechnology to increase agricultural production. This article examines the original Green Revolution to understand potential effects of a recent promotion of related technologies in Africa. Using a case study of Malawi, the implications of promoting high-input, intensive agriculture on food security, social relations and nutrition are considered. I argue that unless social inequalities and environmental concerns are taken into account, these technologies will intensify inequalities, increase environmental degradation and exacerbate malnutrition for the rural majority, while benefitting the urban poor, larger-scale farmers, agro-input dealers and transnational corporations involved in agribusiness.

Cook, eat, man, woman: understanding the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, nutritionism and its alternatives from Malawi

The Group of Eight Countries (G8) launched the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition to improve nutritional outcomes through private sector involvement in agricultural development. The accession of Malawi to the Alliance reveals the assumptions behind the intervention. We show that while the New Alliance may seem to have little to do with nutrition, its emergence as a frame for the privatization of food and agriculture has been decades in the making, and is best understood as an outcome of a project of nutritionism. To highlight the failings of the approach, we present findings from the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities Initiative in northern Malawi, which has demonstrated success in combatting malnutrition through a combination of agroecological farming practices, community mobilization, womens empowerment and changes in intrahousehold gender dynamics. Contrasting a political economic analysis of the New Alliance alongside that of the Soils, Food and Healthy Communities Initiative shows the difference between a concern with the gendered social context of malnutrition, and nutritionism. We conclude with an analysis of the ways that nutrition can play a part in interventions that are inimical, or conducive, to freedom.

Interrogating the technocratic (neoliberal) agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa

This paper introduces a special issue that critically examines the dominant technocratic, neoliberal agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa. We briefly review the history of African agricultural and food security policy in the post-colonial period in order to contextualise the productionist approach embedded in the New Green Revolution for Africa, a strategy comprising the use of hybrid seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides to boost crop production. This approach is underpinned by a new and unprecedented level of public–private partnerships as donors actively work to promote the private sector and build links between African farmers, input suppliers, agro-dealers, agro-processors, and retailers. On the consumer end, increased supermarket penetration into poorer neighbourhoods is proffered as a solution to urban food insecurity. The papers in the special issue complicate understandings of this new approach and raise serious questions about its effectiveness as a strategy for increasing food production and alleviating hunger across the continent.

Participatory Research Approaches and Social Dynamics that Influence Agricultural Practices to Improve Child Nutrition in Malawi

The Soils, Food and Healthy Communities project in Malawi uses an interdisciplinary participatory approach to improving child nutrition with resource-poor farmers. The overall research question is: Can legume systems improve soil fertility, food security, and child nutrition? Over 2000 farmers are now experimenting with legume systems in the region. While this article examines the social issues that mitigate the potential success of legume options tested by the farmers, it does not aim at discussing extensively the complex web of interactions between soil fertility, food security, and nutritional status of children. Instead, its focus is on the research process, and more specifically on the social dimensions and participatory approaches, which influenced farmers’ adoption of organic matter technologies and legume options. The Farmer Research Team was critical in mobilizing community interest in changing agricultural practices to improve child health, but faced challenges in village politics and workload. The linkage with child nutrition was a major reason for increased adoption of legumes, and gender relations played a key role in the adoption. A deeper understanding of the limits of participatory approaches helped to develop innovations that may be replicated elsewhere, such as inclusion of grandmothers and a farmer apprenticeship program.

Seed struggles and food sovereignty in northern Malawi

In this paper I use seeds in Malawi as both an analytical lens and an empirical focus of study to examine how food sovereignty is threatened or enhanced in a particular location and time. I argue that while food sovereignty was eroded for smallholders through neoliberal reforms to the agricultural system, community and kin practices help to maintain food sovereignty. The intersection of gender and class dynamics, combined with state policies, however, works to undermine food sovereignty for particular groups in northern Malawi. Historical processes of exclusion, dispossession and exploitation changed the division of labour and reduced time and land for diverse farming systems. State policies reduced knowledge and availability of preferred local varieties. While peasants, particularly women, have considerable knowledge of seed varieties, and seeds continue to be exchanged in agrarian communities, young women, tenant farmers, food insecure younger couples and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-affected families are particularly vulnerable to reduced food sovereignty, in part due to gender inequalities, unequal land distribution and social stigma. New efforts to strengthen food sovereignty need to build on community and kin relations, while addressing social inequalities. Understanding the struggles and relations linked to seeds helps us to understand ways in which food sovereignty is undermined or strengthened.In this paper I use seeds in Malawi as both an analytical lens and an empirical focus of study to examine how food sovereignty is threatened or enhanced in a particular location and time. I argue that while food sovereignty was eroded for smallholders through neoliberal reforms to the agricultural system, community and kin practices help to maintain food sovereignty. The intersection of gender and class dynamics, combined with state policies, however, works to undermine food sovereignty for particular groups in northern Malawi. Historical processes of exclusion, dispossession and exploitation changed the division of labour and reduced time and land for diverse farming systems. State policies reduced knowledge and availability of preferred local varieties. While peasants, particularly women, have considerable knowledge of seed varieties, and seeds continue to be exchanged in agrarian communities, young women, tenant farmers, food insecure younger couples and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-affect...