TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD:
FROM MINING TO HARVESTING PROJECT- SENZANI,
NTCHEU DISTRICT
Prepared by:
R.W. Mkandawire e-mail: bob.mkandawire@yahoo.net
MIRTDC Fax: +265 (0) 1 847 844
P O Box 357 Phone: +265 (0) 1 847 845
Blantyre Cell: +265 (0) 8 88 329 037
June 2010
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The study was conducted as part fulfillment of the implementation of the Technology Transfer
for Sustainable Livelihood: From Mining to Harvesting Project with funding from Global
Environmental Facility-Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) of the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP). The financers of the project are commended for making
resources available. Malawi Industrial Research and Technology Development Centre
(MIRTDC) are the implementers of the project. Management of MIRTDC is commended for co-
financing the project and making available personnel to implement it. Collaborating partners, the
Development of Malawian Enterprises Trust (DEMAT) and the Bvumbwe Agricultural Research
are also commended for their contributions in the preparation of this survey.
In addition, thanks also go to the community leaders, the Chiefs and the Area Development
Committee of the STA Tsikulamowa and Senzani Community Development Organization
(SECODO) for facilitating the conduction of the interviews. The consulting team is also indebted
to the 90 households that took time to respond to our data collection questionnaire. Their
contribution made this work possible.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The area of STA Tsikulamowa lies to the south-easterly tip of Ntcheu District, popularly known
as Senzani. The community of area ekes its living mainly from smallholder agriculture and
charcoal trading. Almost all homesteads in the area are involved in charcoal business in some
way. Whereas agriculture is the main source of food, charcoal burning forms the main source of
income. There are 18 charcoal selling points along the M1 highway within STA Tsikulamowa,
the main charcoal marketing point is at Chitale. Charcoal from Senzani is mainly consumed in
the cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, with some finding its way to Balaka Township.
The survey collected data from 90 community members that will directly participate in the
project. This was done to allow for repeated measures t-test data analysis in the Project’s
impact assessment. The survey results indicate that the community of STA Tsikulamowa is
fairly food secure; 69% of the households rely on their own produced food for more than six
months. A sizeable household population, 33% are female headed. Primary school distribution
is fair, with 93% of the households located at less than five kilometers from a primary school.
The survey also established that there is no discrimination to education on the basis of gender.
Poverty is still rampant in the area, with 90.3% of the households earning less than
MK167.00/day (US$1.1)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................... ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................... iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................ iv
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ........................................ vi
1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................. 7
1.1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR ACTION ............................................... 7
1.2 STUDY OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................ 8
1.3 METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 8
2.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS ................. 10
2.1 AGRICULTURE ......................................................................................................... 10
2.1.1 Food security............................................................................................................... 11
2.1.2 Livestock ...................................................................................................................... 11
2.1.3 Animals of Labour ...................................................................................................... 12
2.2 HOUSEHOLD ............................................................................................................. 13
2.2.1 Household size ........................................................................................................... 13
2.2.2 Family head ................................................................................................................. 13
2.3 EDUCATION ............................................................................................................... 15
2.3.1 Distance to nearest school ....................................................................................... 15
2.3.2 Children at School ...................................................................................................... 16
2.3.3 Children at school according to gender .................................................................. 17
2.4 INCOME ...................................................................................................................... 19
2.4.1 Sources of income ..................................................................................................... 19
2.4.2 Levels of income......................................................................................................... 20
2.4 CHARCOAL BUSINESS SITUATION ................................................................... 21
2.4.1 Charcoal Markets ....................................................................................................... 23
2.4.2 Charcoal Sources ....................................................................................................... 25
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2.5 ENVIRONMENT EFFORTS ..................................................................................... 25
2.6 ENTERPRISE EXPERIENCE .................................................................................. 26
3.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................ 27
REFERENCES ......................................................................... 28
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ADC Area Development Committee
DEMAT Development of Malawian Enterprises Trust
EPA Extension Planning Area
MGDS Malawi Growth and Development Strategy
PAESP Promotion of Alternative Energy Sources Project
SECODO Senzani Community Development Organization
SEP Socio Economic Profile
SPSS Statistical Package for Social Scientists
STA Sub-Traditional Authority
VDC Village Development Committee
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR ACTION
Ntcheu District is located to the southern end of Central Region of Malawi. It borders Dedza
District to the north, Neno District to the south, Mangochi District to the northeast, Balaka
District to the southeast and Mozambique to the west. Ntcheu District has a total of ten
Traditional Authorities, eight Chiefs and two Sub-Chiefs. STA Tsikulamowa of Senzani is one of
the Sub-Chiefs. STA Tsikulamowa, at district level is recognized to have three Group Village
Heads and 53 Villages, however at local level six Group Village Heads are recognized namely,
Chikhasu, Machileza, Kanama, Malate, Senzani and Mwenye. The area of STA Tsikulamowa,
which has a total population of approximately 33,620 people, lies to south-easterly tip of Ntcheu
District. Figure 1.1 shows the map of the district with the position of the study area highlighted.
The villagers eke their living mainly from smallholder agriculture and charcoal trading. Almost all
homesteads in the area are involved in charcoal business in some way. Agricultural activities
include the growing of maize, groundnuts, sugarcanes and vegetables. Whereas agriculture
provides food, charcoal burning is a source of income. There are 18 charcoal selling points
along the M1 highway within STA Tsikulamowa’s area. The charcoal is mainly consumed in the
cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe, with some finding its way to Balaka Township.
The charcoal burning business has turned the once forest thicket into bushes with trees that
hardly live for more than five years. The wanton cutting down of trees for charcoal burning has
also exposed the soil to erosion waters that have left behind red stony sub-soils where crop
production can only be achieved through use of fertilizers. Rainfall in the area is also erratic,
and the area is prone to floods. As recently as 2004, some villagers lost their lives, crops and
livestock to Rivi-rivi River flood waters.
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Figure 1.1 Map of Ntcheu District showing the study area (Source: Ntcheu District Socio-
Economic Profile)
1.2 STUDY OBJECTIVES
The main objective of this study was to provide baseline socio-economic information of the
project area so that progress achieved through the project’s lifetime can be assessed. This
would help in identifying best practices that can be replicated elsewhere where similar
environmental problems exist.
1.3 METHODOLOGY
A questionnaire was prepared to aid the gathering of data. The questionnaire was administered
through structured interviews. To ensure that as wide data as is possible are gathered, the
questionnaire was divided into seven distinct sections, namely: education, agriculture, health,
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housing, economy, enterprise and environment. The data were then analyzed using the
statistical package for social scientists (SPSS).
Two enumerators were assigned to undertake the survey. During the survey, 90 households
that would directly benefit from the project were selected for interviewing. Working with the 90
households was deliberate so that when making the impact assessment of the Project, repeated
measures t-test can be used.
Villagers from each Group Village Headman were gathered at a central point identified from
within their villages. The questionnaire was then distributed to all members participating. The
enumerator went through the questions one at a time, allowing the respondents to fill in the
answers as they apply to their households. After all the questionnaire had been filled, the
gathered data was analyzed in order to provide the baseline data presented in this report.
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2.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
2.1 AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is the main livelihood system in Malawi; the same applies for the people of
STA Tsikulamowa. Regarding agricultural extension, STA Tsikulamowa falls under
Manjawila Extension Planning Area (EPA).
The survey gathered agricultural data on major food crops, major cash crops, own food
availability, major livestock and use of animal power in farming activities. The survey
established that 97.9% of the households in STA Tsikulamowa depend on maize as a
major food crop. Reliance on maize as a food crop applies to the whole district; maize is
grown on almost 90% of the total cultivated land in the district (Ntcheu SEP 2008).
Maize also acts as a cash crop. Maize together with ground nuts are the major cash
crops for the area; tobacco and cotton being the other major cash crops. Figure 2.1
shows percentage of households relying on a particular cash crop.
Major cash crop
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
Maize Tobacco Cotton Groundnuts
Major cash crop
Figure 2.1: Major Cash Crops
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2.1.1 Food security
The people of STA Tsikulamowa can be said to be fairly food secure, with 69%
depending on own produced food supplies for over six months in a year; while 23%
depend on own food for more than nine months. Figure 2.2 gives percentage of
households and specific periods within which they spend on own produced food.
Food Availability
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
Less than 3 months 3-6 months 6-9 months 9-12 months
Food Availability
Fig 2.2: Food Availability
2.1.2 Livestock
Goats and chickens are the most popular livestock in the Senzani area with cattle
coming a distant third. Pigs are the other livestock that are available in significant
number of households. Other livestock are available but in very few households. The
livestock situation in STA Tsikulamowa mirrors the district situation, that is, if the
population is considered to reflect the spread of the animals. In 2007, the four main
livestock in Ntcheu were as follows: chickens (458,292), goats (95,116), pigs (45,793)
and cattle (44,490) (Ntcheu SEP 2008). Fig 2.3 shows percentage of households with
particular livestock.
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Major Livestock
60
50
40
Percent
30
20
10
0
Cattle Goats Chickens Pigs Other
Major Livestock
Fig 2.3: Major Livestock
2.1.3 Animals of Labour
The fact that livestock population in the area is predominately small-stock, it comes as
no surprise that use of animal power in the area is very limited. Only 1% of the
households in Senzani use animal power for farming activities. Cattle are used for
ploughing and pulling of ox-carts. It is worth noting that a sizeable number of cattle in
the area are dairy animals. The dairy animals were distributed by World Vision Malawi
that has been running a programme within the area for the past ten years. Figure 2.4 is
showing the percentage of households with animals of labour from within the area.
Fig 2.4 Animals of Labour
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2.2 HOUSEHOLD
Household characteristics for the people of Senzani were defined by the family size,
gender of the family head, age of the family head and level of education of the family
head.
2.2.1 Household size
The study showed that Senzani households are family households. Over 91% of
households have three or more members. The majority, 52.1% had 3-5 members while
37.2% are 6-8 member households. The household size agrees with the average
household size for the Central Region that, according to the Population and Housing
Census of 2008 is at 4.7. Figure 2.5 shows the household size distribution of the study
area.
Family Size
60
50
40
Percent
30
20
10
0
1-2 members 3-5 members 6-8 members 9-12 members
Family Size
Fig 2.5: Family size distribution
2.2.2 Family head
The family head has a lot of influence of family socio-economic decisions. Age and
education of the family head influence decisions that families make. The socio-
economic livelihood of a family is negatively influenced if the head of a family is a minor
or an aged person. The situation in Senzani, however, is not too bad as the proportion
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of the families headed by minors and the aged is small. In general, female headed
families are also vulnerable to poverty (MGDS Steering Committee 2006). Most female
headed families are single parent families and in most cases the woman is a widow.
While male headed families dominate the households of Senzani, there are a sizeable
number (33.3%) of female headed families. The majority (76%) of the households are
headed by mature persons of over 30 years while 3% are headed by minors of 20 or
less years and another 1.5% are headed by the aged of over 70 years.
Most of the family heads (49%) are educated up to primary school level, followed by
secondary school educated (43%). A minority of 8% have no education at all. The
education of family head would have an impact on development decisions that a family
can make. With 92% of family head possessing some form of education, development
programmes have a high probability of succeeding in STA Tsikulamowa. Figures 2.6
and 2.7 show the distribution of the Age of family heads and their education
Age of Family Head
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
10-15 Years 16-20 Years 21-30 years 31-50 years 51-70 years Over 70 years
Age of Family Head
Fig 2.6: Age of Family Head
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Education of Family Head
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
None Primary Secondary
Education of Family Head
Fig 2.7: Education of Family Head
2.3 EDUCATION
“Education is the key to success”, is an often used cliché. Education for the Senzani area was
assessed on the basis of distance to nearest primary school, school enrollment on the basis of
children at school and gender distribution.
2.3.1 Distance to nearest school
Distance to nearest school influences school attendance especially for the six to seven year
olds. Five kilometers or less is perceived to be the reasonable distance that school going
children can cover comfortably. There is a good distribution of primary schools in STA
Tsikulamowa, with 93% covering less than five kilometers to the nearest school. The high
school distribution in the area has benefitted from World Vision programs that have been
operating in the area for the past ten years. World Vision programmes included construction of
classrooms and teachers’ houses.
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Distance to nearest primary School
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
Less Than 1km Btween1 and 2 km Between 3-5km Btween 6-10km More than 10km
Distance to nearest primary School
Fig 2.8: Distance to the nearest primary school
2.3.2 Children at School
As reflected in the family size, the majority being between three to eight members, the same is
reflected in the school going children where 88.5% of households have one to four children at
school. On the other hand, 9% of the households have at least one child of the school going age
(age 6 to 20 years - National Statistical Office, 2009) that was not at school. The nine percent
agrees with the nine percent of households where the distance to the nearest primary school is
more than five kilometers. Figures 2.9 and 2.10 show the number of children of school-going
age per household that are at school and those not at school.
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Children at School
30
25
20
Percent
15
10
5
0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00
Children at School
Fig 2.9: Children not at school
Children not at school
80
60
Percent
40
20
0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
Children not at school
Fig 2.10: Children not at school
2.3.3 Children at school according to gender
Reflecting the family sizes and the number of school going children, 85.7% of the households
have one or two girl child at school, with a mean number of children per household of 1.76 (SD
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= 0.91). Similarly, 81% of households have one or two boys at school, mean 1.79 (SD = 0.97).
Comparing the boy and girl children at school, confirms that there is no significant difference in
the number of school going children on the basis of gender, t (124) = 0.189, p = 0.89. This is an
indication that there is no discrimination in sending children to school on the basis of gender in
STA Tsikulamowa area. Though this is the case, it would be worthwhile conducting further
investigations on the lower average number of girl children at school per household as
compared to boy children considering that the Ntcheu population has more women to males:
52%:48%; (National Statistical Office 2009). Figures 2.11 and 2.12 show the number of children
at school per household on the basis of gender.
Female Children at school
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
Female Children at school
Figure 2.11
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Male Childeren at School
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
Male Childeren at School
Figure 2.12 Male Children at school
2.4 INCOME
Poverty is still rampant in STA Tsikulamowa. Over 90% of the households live on income of less
than USD 1.00 per day. Smallholder agriculture is the main source of food while charcoal selling
is the main source of income. The survey had an interest in the extent to which charcoal plays in
the livelihood systems of the community.
2.4.1 Sources of income
Subsistence agriculture is the main livelihood system for the people of Senzani, it is rated as the
number one source of livelihood for 42.6% of the households. Agriculture is followed by
charcoal selling at 25.5%. The other main source is piece work, which is the main source for
18.1% of the households. Other sources of income are trading, employment and artisanship.
Figure 2.13 presents the sources of income and their contribution in the community.
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Source of Income
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
Agriculture Employment Piece Work Trading Artisan Charcoal selling
Source of Income
Fig 2.13: Sources of income
2.4.2 Levels of income
Income levels for the people of Senzani can be described as low. 90.3% of the households earn
below MK5,000.00 (US$ 33.33) per month; of whom 51.6% earn less than a meager
MK1,500.00 (US10.00) a month. Figure 2.14 presents household monthly income levels for
Senzani.
20
Income per month
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
Less than 1000 1001-1500 1501-3000 3001-5000 5001-10000 Over 10000
Income per month
Fig 2.14: Monthly income levels
2.4 CHARCOAL BUSINESS SITUATION
Senzani is the charcoal hub along the M1 road, between Blantyre and Ntcheu. Besides
smallholder agriculture, charcoal selling provides livelihood to the majority of the households in
the neighborhood. Fifty percent of the population are involved in charcoal business at various
levels, 39% earning MK5,000.00 or less per month, 8% earning between MK5,001 and 10,000
while 2% earning over MK15,000.00 per month from charcoal selling.
The survey also established, as shown in Fig 2.15, that 65% of the households in the area have
at one time or another engaged in charcoal production.
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Fig 2.15: Households ever engaged in charcoal production
Although 65% of households have one time or another participated in charcoal production, only
44.3% have taken up charcoal burning as an enterprise. Those that have taken up charcoal
production as a business are responsible for most of the destruction to forests in the area.
Whereas one big tree would be sufficient for production of adequate charcoal per mission, the
situation now at Senzani is such that big trees are no longer readily available. Thus to ensure
that adequate charcoal is produced, villagers cut an average of 10 trees per mission, while
others fell as many as 100 trees. The most popular number of bags produced per mission is 10.
Figure 2.16 and 2.17 shows the distribution of trees felled and bags produced per mission:
Trees Felled per Mission
50
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
1.00 2.00 3.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 30.00 100.00
Trees Felled per Mission
Fig 2.16: Trees felled per mission
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Bags produced per mission
30
25
20
Percent
15
10
5
0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 12.00 15.00 18.00 20.00 40.00 60.00
Bags produced per mission
Fig 2.17: Bags produced per mission
2.4.1 Charcoal Markets
Ninety-two percent of the charcoal sold is sold along the M1 Road that passes through the area,
the balance is sold at markets in Blantyre. The most number of bags sold per household per
month is 10; the lowest is one and the highest is 75. The bags are sold at varied prices, the
most common prices are MK500.00 and MK600.00 per bag. The lowest price per bag is
MK200.00 and the highest is MK700.00. The price of MK200.00 is used when intermediate
buyers are buying the charcoal from producers at the production site. Since intermediate buyers
are few, the prices are skewed towards the higher prices, a factor indicating sells to end users
that buy the charcoal along the roadside. Figs 2.18 and 2.19 show the distribution of bags sold
per household per month and selling prices.
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Bags Sold per month
20
15
Percent
10
5
0
1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 7.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 15.00 16.00 20.00 25.00 28.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 70.00 75.00
Bags Sold per month
Fig 2.18: Bags sold per month
Price per bag
40
30
Percent
20
10
0
200.00 300.00 450.00 500.00 600.00 650.00 700.00
Price per bag
Fig 2.19 Price per bag
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2.4.2 Charcoal Sources
At the inauguration of M1 road in the late 1980s, charcoal was being produced from trees felled
from within the roadside. At the moment, most of trees suitable for charcoal production have
been depleted from along the roadside. Consequently, the producers have had to go further and
further away from the main road. As a result, most of the charcoal sold along the M1 road,
especially at Chitale, is no longer being produced from within the villages. The charcoal now
comes from the surrounding villages, especially those close to the Kirk Range. Of the charcoal
sold along the M1, 18% is produced from within the communities, while 80% comes from the
surrounding villages.
2.5 ENVIRONMENT EFFORTS
Though the people of Senzani have been active in using forestry resources, their use of the
resource has been more of mining than harvesting. Whereas 45% were said to be active in the
charcoal production enterprise, only 30% participated in the tree planting exercise of the
2009/2010 season. It was, however, encouraging to note that most of the households value
keeping of a family woodlot. The survey established that 56% of the households have a private
woodlot. Figures 2.20 and 2.21 show the households that were involved in tree planting and
those that own woodlots.
Fig 2.20: Households participating in tree planting
25
Fig 2.21: Households owning woodlots
2.6 ENTERPRISE EXPERIENCE
Senzani and the surrounding areas have had a number of project initiatives from both
Government and the NGO fraternity. Among the NGOs, World Vision Malawi (WVM) has been
very active in Senzani itself for a period of over 10 years. During this time, WVM has facilitated
the construction of school blocks, the distribution of small stocks and dairy cattle on pass-on
programmes and the promotion of the growing of fruit trees. Though this was the case, the
group approach and entrepreneurial skills were not emphasized. This was confirmed by the fact
that only 8.8% of the households have had entrepreneurship experience; 7.6% belong to
enterprise groups and these are the households that have had entrepreneurship training.
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3.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Looking at the situation at Senzani as it stands today, a number of initiatives can be put in place
to strengthen the weak areas and sustain the strong points. Social aspects of the area can be
said to be strong when the high school distribution and school attendance is to be considered.
Similarly the participation of women and youth in developmental efforts is well established.
However, respect of nature, regarding tree cutting and replenishing through tree planting
exercises need to be strengthened. Thus the project will encourage the establishment of village
forestry areas.
Another area that needs strengthening is the group approach to project implementation. A
number of previously implemented projects have indicated that peer pressure and group
cohesion helps in improving community participation and project success stories. However, in
order for the group approach to succeed, group dynamics need to be well understood by the
participants. As part of the group dynamics, leadership roles also need to be well articulated by
the participants. The greatest benefit of the group approach is the multiplier effect that the
approach brings in the project implementation.
Since the livelihood being debated in this project is the operating of the charcoal production and
selling business; efforts to curb such livelihood system calls for identification and
implementation alternative enterprises. Such enterprises were already selected by the
communities. The success of the enterprises, however depends on proper preparations of the
participating community members. The preparation would start with the entrepreneurship
training followed by skills training in the areas of interest. The skills training needs to be
practice-heavy with the theory acting as complementary. Actual production is expected to
follow-on immediately after the training so that the learnt skills are not forgotten with the passing
of time.
The selling of charcoal has mostly been done along the road, thus attracting minimal marketing
effort and expenses, it is, therefore incumbent on new efforts to also use the roadside sales
approach. It, therefore makes sense to establish the Marketing Centre by the road side.
However to provide for a wider appeal, supply contracts for other products, especially
perishables, at bigger market outlets in Balaka, Ntcheu and Blantyre need to be considered.
27
REFERENCES
MGDS Steering Committee (2006) Malawi Growth and Development Strategy: From Poverty to
Prosperity 2006-2011, Government Print, Lilongwe
National Statistical Office (2009) Population and Housing Census 2008-Main Report, National
Statistical Office, Zomba
Ntcheu District Assembly (2008) Ntcheu District Social Economic Profile, Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development, Lilongwe
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