THE STATE AND IRRIGATION FARMING IN MALAWI, 1946 - 2002

The study was attempted against the background of inadequate study of the history of irrigation farming in the agricultural historiography of Malawi. Using the case studies of Likangala and Domasi irrigation Schemes in the Lake Chilwa basin of southeast Malawi, Central Africa, the study examines the efforts the colonial and post-colonial state made to promote irrigation farming through the development of irrigation schemes in the country between 1946 and 2002. Evidence from the Lake Chilwa basin, and Malawi in general, suggests that the state attempted to develop irrigation schemes in response to ecological, political, economic and ideological changes of the time. For example, the colonial state developed irrigation schemes to improve peasant production in the face of drought, rapid population growth and land scarcity. Similarly, the post-colonial state developed irrigation schemes to utilise undeveloped land, to demonstrate to rural communities the methods and benefits of intensive cash cropping, increase the volume of rice production, form a nuclei for rural towns, and to promote inter-ethnic cooperation and nationhood. From the mid- 1990s, the hand over of irrigation schemes to farmers was adopted as an adaptive
strategy against economic crisis and the desire to conform to ideas of stakeholder participation and irrigation management transfer which preoccupied scholars and development planners, the world over. Important also to note is the fact that farmers, both local and settlers, exercised their independent choices to participate in the irrigation schemes. Acting as individuals or as a group, they had the freedom to join the schemes or not. Their joining of irrigation schemes was usually dependent upon the realisation of the dividends of irrigation farming. They were far from being passive participants in the development of irrigation schemes. It is also clear from this study that the development of irrigation schemes had both a positive and negative impact in the Lake Chilwa basin. However, the study notes that the development of irrigation schemes brought more harm than good to the societies where they were established. But the degree to which the societies were affected varied with time, location, social class and gender. Irrigation schemes, on the one hand, for example, increased the production of rice, expanded income sources, and improved the infrastructure development of the Lake Chilwa basin. On the other hand, irrigation schemes led to loss of ancestral land to some farmers, exposed farmers to irrigation related diseases such as cholera, typhoid, and bilharzias. However, prior to 1994, irrigation schemes were relatively well organised and productive, and this has been attributed to the serious commitment the state of the time had on agriculture. Furthermore, the study noted that privileged farmers such as committee members, Young Pioneers and state officials were among he groups that benefited from the development
of irrigation schemes in the Lake Chilwa.