ABSTRACT
Malawi’s Development Programme Malawi’s development strategy has remained virtually unchanged since independence. The elimination of the budget deficit through the rapid expansion of the economy has been a dominant objective. Top priority was accorded in public sector expenditure to agricultural development: a priority dictated by the economic importance of agriculture at independence and by the natural resource endowments of the country. Increased agricultural output was crucial to expanding exports in which, given its small domestic market, Malawi’s main growth potential lay. This priority was endorsed in 1967, when the importance of increasing foreign exchange earnings was more fully recognised. The improvement of transport and communications was seen mainly as a corollary to agricultural development, and had second priority. The shortage of skilled manpower dictated the third priority: expenditure on secondary and higher education. Finally, industrial development was to be promoted to exploit the import-substitution opportunities, which emerged with the dissolution of Federation and with economic expansion. The virtue, expediency and efficacy of self-help and private initiative have been stressed, and the role of the public sector has been seen as that of providing the preconditions for private enterprises and acting as a catalyst to it. Nevertheless, the government’s approach has not been doctrinaire: it has been prepared to take on private sector activities if it considered that existing opportunities were not being fully exploited. Considerable importance has been attached to domestic efforts, partly to reduce the trade deficit, but also because a degree of self-reliance has been thought important in itself and a means of attracting foreign aid.
