If Malawi were a striker, that striker would have been a wasteful one.
I mean, Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa, has fluffed myriad opportunities to develop and catch up with African countries that are literally cruising— on the way to their own versions of Canaan.
The truth is, both our leaders and us, citizens, want the best for Malawi. Those that claim to wish the country better than our leaders are definitely lying.
It would be in the best interest of our leaders for Malawi to develop, for they will, then, stand on podia and claim that they helped in transforming this country.
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It just happens that, Malawi being a member of the global community, some of the things that happen elsewhere affect Malawi negatively.
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A case in point is the issue of fertiliser. The fertiliser supply chain has been disrupted due to the Russia-Ukraine war. As such, other fertiliser suppliers have been reeling under pressure to fill in the gap-quite a tall order.
Second-hand vehicle sellers have also been affected by the problem of forex shortage, just like fertiliser and fuel suppliers who import products they trade in.
Now, Malawi does not manufacture forex. Far from it. If we talk about United States dollars, we do not call them (dollars) United States-something for nothing. They have the name United States written all over them, meaning that, when it comes to United States dollar generation, there is nothing Malawi can do about it.
In fact, the green buck is almost on demand worldwide, such that Malawi cannot claim exclusive rights over it.
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What am I talking about? I am talking about problems that can be beyond a country’s control.
But, then, there are problems that can be under a country’s control. Yes; problems that can be controlled. A case in point is deforestation.
With requisite laws, errant citizens who go about felling down trees they did not plant can face the long arm of the law— and the trees can live happily thereafter.
And, I think, most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be met by Malawi— and individual member states of the United Nations.
Unfortunately, Malawi seems to be struggling to meet some of the goals.
Just this week, a report which Council for Non- Governmental Organisations and other organisations issued indicated that Malawi is stuttering on some of the goals.
The report, titled ‘People’s Scorecard for SDGs’, indicates that Malawi has performed poorly in SDG Number 1 of Ending Extreme Poverty in All Forms by 2030, with a score of four percent, as well as SDG Number 7 of Ensuring Access to Affordable, Reliable, and Sustainable and Modern Energy for All, with a score of six percent.
According to the report, the average score of four percent in SDG 1 signifies dissatisfaction with the level of poverty in communities, despite funds being pumped into communities by government, non-State actors, the business community and development partners. It says this perspective aligns with the understanding that poverty in Malawi is deep, widespread and worsening.
It adds that for most vulnerable citizens who are benefiting from social security programmes such as social cash transfer, they receive the funds after the designated period has expired. This, according to the report, exposes the beneficiaries to loan shacks, who usually get the funds the moment the beneficiaries get the transfers.
On SDG 7, the report says more than 98 percent of Malawian households use wood and charcoal for cooking, hence the average score of six percent. “Wood was rated the biggest source of energy in the communities for cooking. The supremacy of wood energy in the communities is derived from the view that it is readily available to any household regardless of the poverty situation. The wood is sourced from family woodlots, community forests and protected forests,” it indicates.
These are frustrating things, indeed.
However, it will not do us good to point fingers at those we think are failing us.
Findings of the report should give us food for thought; in terms of how, as bonafide citizens, we can do our part to ensure that we meet goals we can meet and make an effort to, in case we fail to meet some SDGs, not fall far off the mark.
What pains me, Dear Pain, is that some people will be wishing that the country did not meet the goals— all in the name of self-serving interests.
