A SURVEY ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SMALLHOLDER . DAIRY PRODUCTION IN THE LILONGWE MILKSHED AREA IN MALAWI: IMPLICATIONS FOR DAIRY PRODUCTION POLICY

Malawi is a small land-locked developing country in Central Africa lying between the latitudes of 9°45' and 17°16' South and longitudes of 32° and 36° East. It is bordered by Zambi a in the west, Tanzania in the north and northeast and Mozambique in the east, south and southwest (Figure l). Total land area for Malawi is 11.8 million hectares, 20 percent of which is water surface.2 Administratively Malawi is divided into three regions: the Northern, Central and Southern Regions with Mzuzu, Lilongwe and Blantyre as the Regional cities, respectively (Figure l). The country's population was estimated at 8.0 million people in 1987 giving an average population growth rate of 3.7 percent per annum during the 1977-1987 period. The overall population density in lQ87 was 85 persans per square kilometre (km2 ) as compared to 59 persons/km2 in 1977.