ROMA – In Malawi – we read in an article signed by Claudia Volonterio on Africa and Businessthe online newspaper directed by Massimo Zaurrini – farmers are fighting waste by producing wine from overripe bananas. Long grown near the shores of Lake Malawi – the article continues – banana plantations have had to move in recent years, as they were washed away by rising water levels due to increased rainfall. Farmers have moved to warmer lands, with temperatures ranging up to 42°C. What initially seemed like a problem, namely the bananas ripening too quickly and the resulting economic losses for farmers, has instead turned out to be a new opportunity.
The picture of the economy of Malawi. The good news for banana growers is in this landlocked southern African country, nestled between Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Its economy is therefore predominantly agricultural, but concentrated in the hands of a very small elite, which provides work to about 80% of the population, which is just over 20 million citizens. 65% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day and 46% of children suffer from malnutrition.
Drought that leads to hunger. Furthermore, the drought is very serious – as in many African nations – which has drastically reduced harvests and therefore access to food for approximately 2.8 million people, practically reduced to starvation. Malawi is listed among the poorest and most densely populated countries on the African continent, due to its limited territory, and is ranked 160th in the world according to the human development indicator of theUNDP.
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– 2024-09-17 06:15:39
