AFRICA: Russia’s fertiliser gift for Malawi comes with a catch – My Comments

(005875.811-:E-000062.43:N-AC:R-SU:C-30:V)   

[Malawi was at first ruled by a pretty decent Black, Dr Banda, who was even friendly to the Whites of South Africa and Rhodesia. But in recent decades, Malawi was actually taken over by Black Communists. Malawi is now struggling. The Russians and Blacks have struck deals many times in Africa. Jan]

Peter Chapola’s maize crop in Malawi’s central district is almost ready for harvest. But his family is hungry and has started eating the green mielies. It will still be weeks before they can dry the maize to make flour, the staple food in Malawi.

The season just before harvest is called the lean season for a reason. Food is scarce in an agrarian society. And agriculture makes up some 80% of all jobs and 30% of Malawi’s economy, according to the World Bank.

It was only last week that Chapola got a bag of fertiliser from the government as part of its programme to support the poor and vulnerable with farming resources.

“It’s too late,” he says. “I will keep it and perhaps use it next year.”

Farmers like Chapola might also sell the fertiliser to get through the lean season and then have to buy more fertiliser later, at a higher price.

For Malawi, the fertiliser shortage started before Russia’s invasion. The government had started cracking down on fertiliser cartels, according to Betchane Tcherene, an economist at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. “While they were doing that, the war in Ukraine disrupted the supply chains.”

With exports from Ukraine cut and Russia under sanctions, Malawi was caught unprepared, and over the past few years, the cost of fertiliser has more than doubled.

And the world faces a shortage of phosphorus — which threatens food security globally — because of overuse of phosphate fertiliser. The phosphate, together with sewage, washes into water bodies causing algal blooms that threaten aquatic life. In addition, phosphorus in large quantities is found in only a few countries — Morocco and western Sahara, China and then Algeria.

Moscow saw an opportunity for a diplomatic charm offensive. Malawi this week received 20 000 tons of fertiliser. A total 260 000 tonnes will be distributed across the African continent.

Handing over the fertiliser in Lilongwe, Russian ambassador Nikolai Krasilnikov made it clear that the gift came with expectations.

Bemoaning sanctions on his country, Krasilnikov said: “We are very confident that it’s high time we stopped the blockade on Russian goods and fertiliser. We are ready to support the developing countries with the agriculture products but we need your voice to support us.”

He suggested that countries should help Russia “for the benefit of building strategic alliances” in Africa.

He further announced that President Vladimir Putin has invited Malawi’s president to the Russian-Africa summit to be held in St Petersburg. He said Russian health professionals were also ready to assist Malawi in fighting its cholera outbreak.

Yet Malawi has been noticeably outspoken in its condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine, and in its voting in support of United Nations resolutions condemning Putin’s belligerence. Russia also has no real history with Malawi, which aligned itself with the West during the Cold War.

And on a macro level the free fertiliser offered is little more than small change.

Nic Cheeseman, of the Democracy in Africa think-tank, said the power play “will work to an extent” but then countries will look at how much money it represents.

“Russia seems to have limited resources, so it cannot back the fertiliser up with greater investments in other areas.

“It will not displace the US and China as the most influential international partners in Africa.”

Malawi is also still heavily dependent on foreign donor support; World Bank data show this amounted to a billion dollars in 2020, with the economy creating seven billion dollars. Money from Western donors is crucial for services such as education, healthcare, energy supply and others.

Russia’s fertiliser is too late for this season, and too little to nourish the hopes of a new friendship.

Source: https://mg.co.za/africa/2023-03-18-russias-fertiliser-gift-for-malawi-comes-with-a-catch/



Jan‘s Advertisement
Video: #TeamWhite: A NEW WHITE HERO: Robert Bowers: Americas No 1 Jew KILLER!!
Alex and I discuss and celebrate our latest white HERO: Robert Bowers! We discuss Bowers, Torba and Gab.


Jan‘s Advertisement
Video: A Quick Lesson: What Whites really do to Jews in Pogroms and Holocausts
Ive looked at lots of literature over the years where the Jews claim Whites are slaughtering them. They cite pogroms as a nasty feature of their past. And then some pogroms are then called holocausts. But what exactly really happens? Is there any evidence of what exactly transpires between Whites and Jews?


Jan‘s Advertisement
Video: DWUMS: Defenseless White Urban Males & Learned White Helplessness
I discuss Whites who are out of their depth and helpless when they realise with horror the truth about Liberalism and Capitalism. I also talk about how Whites are caught up in fake problems that are the result of having so many moral factors that they need to take into account. Even here in South Africa we have helpless urban Whites who get flustered over nothing.
Skip to toolbar