A potential famine

Shortly after I arrived in November, the rains did too. With the rains came a flurry of activity as every man, woman and child took to their gardens preparing the soils and planting maize; maize being Malawi’s food staple. They put such a lot of effort into it and also spent a lot of money on seed and fertilizer

Through December it was wonderful to watch those green shoots grow taller and thicker and how naïve I was in thinking that all was okay.

January has been so dry. A friend arrived

here in a torrential downpour on 17 January, she left in a trickle of rain on 31st but she didn’t see any rain for the rest of the time she was here.

Day by day we watch the yellowing and wilting of those elegant maize stems and there is nothing we can do to save them, only the rain can help.

I asked the question about whether or not the maize will pick up if the rains suddenly come and the answer, probably not.

It seems that at the best, we will have a poor crop and the worst a famine. Let’s hope and pray it’s the former.

PS if anyone is in touch with Donald Trump, please quote this example of how the climate is changing!