Allan Chiyembekeza | |
---|---|
Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation of Malawi | |
In office 19 June 2014 –20 July 2019 | |
President | Peter Mutharika |
Personal details | |
Born | Malawi |
Political party | Democratic Progressive Party (Malawi) |
Allan Chiyembekeza is a Malawian politician and educator. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] He was the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation of Malawi,having been appointed to the position on 12 January 2015 by former president of Malawi,Peter Mutharika. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] His term began on 31 May 2014. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] In 2016,he was the Minister of Agriculture,Irrigation and Water Development. As a minister of agriculture,he encouraged local farmers in the country to grow sorghum to deal with the effects of climate change. [20] [21] [22] [23]
He conducted a campaign to encourage farmers in Blantyre after he opened a five-day Agriculture Workshop on Enhancement of National Agriculture Extension Services Project,which was admired by several African countries. [20] Over 14 representatives from different African countries and officials from the Malawi Government,as well as non-governmental organisations attended the workshop in Blantyre. [20]
Yongkyu Kwon,a South Korea Ambassador,praised on how the project of sorghum was being organised in Malawi and farther admired similar projects that were being implemented in Uganda. The ambassador visited several districts in the country where the projects were being implemented including Nsanje district. [20]
As the Minister of Agriculture,Irrigation and Water Development,Chiyembekeza addressed the nation in 2016 that farmers' harvestings were enough to feed the country,till next season. These remarks infuriated people in the country,as people were still spending long hours and nights at the admarc to buy staples. This was as the result after The Nation revealed that many people were queuing for maize husks (madeya/vingoma),which other people were distributing to villages surrounding the Catholic University in Chiradzulu District. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
The minister was accompanied by Minister of Information,Jappie Mhango,when he said that tonnage in admarc’s custody,25 220 MT will feed hungry the Southern Region,the Centre will have 16 863 MT while the North will have the remaining 8 417 MT. [30]
Malawi,officially the Republic of Malawi and formerly known as Nyasaland,is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west,Tanzania to the north and northeast,and Mozambique to the east,south and southwest. Malawi spans over 118,484 km2 (45,747 sq mi) and has an estimated population of 19,431,566. Malawi's capital is Lilongwe. Its second-largest is Blantyre,its third-largest is Mzuzu and its fourth-largest is its former capital,Zomba.
The economy of Malawi is $7.522 billion by gross domestic product as of 2019,and is predominantly agricultural,with about 80% of the population living in rural areas. The landlocked country in south central Africa ranks among the world's least developed countries. In 2017,agriculture accounted for about one-third of GDP and about 80% of export revenue. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF,the World Bank,and individual donor nations. The government faces strong challenges:to spur exports,to improve educational and health facilities,to face up to environmental problems of deforestation and erosion,and to deal with the problem of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Malawi is a least developed country according to United Nations.
Bingu wa Mutharika was a Malawian politician and economist who was President of Malawi from May 2004 until his death in April 2012. He was also President of the Democratic Progressive Party,which he founded in February 2005;it obtained a majority in Malawi's parliament in the 2009 general election.
George T. Chaponda is a Malawian career diplomat and politician who served as Malawi's Minister of Agriculture,Irrigation and Water Development from 2016 to 2017. He is a founding member of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and is a DPP Member of Parliament from Mulanje district in southern Malawi.
Blantyre is a district in the Southern Region of Malawi. The capital is Blantyre,a commercial city where most Malawian industrial and business offices are. The district covers an area of 2,012 km²and has a population of 809,397. It was named after Blantyre,the birth village of David Livingstone in Scotland,one of the first missionary explorers who came to Nyasaland,as Malawi was called before independence in 1964. It is also a main trading point besides the other large cities in Malawi. The other large cities are Lilongwe,which is located in the central region,and Mzuzu,which is in the northern part of Malawi.
Malawi is one of the world's undeveloped countries and is ranked 170 out of 187 countries according to the 2010 Human Development Index. It has about 16 million people,53% of whom live under the national poverty line,and 90% of whom live on less than $2 per day.
Joyce Hilda Banda is a Malawian politician,who served as President of Malawi,from 7 April 2012 to 31 May 2014. Banda took office as President following the sudden death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. She is the founder and leader of the People's Party,created in 2011. An educator and grassroots women's rights activist,she was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009 and the Vice-President of Malawi from May 2009 to April 2012. She has served in various roles as a member of Parliament and as Minister of Gender and Child Welfare before she became the President of the Republic of Malawi.
Madame Ethel Mutharika was the First Lady of Malawi and wife of the President of Malawi,Bingu wa Mutharika. Madam Mutharika was born in Zimbabwe. As First Lady,wa Mutharika was known for her charitable work and had established the Ethel Mutharika Foundation in an effort to help the poor of Malawi. wa Mutharika died in Lilongwe after a long battle with cancer at the age of 63.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) persons in Malawi face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.
The main economic products of Malawi are tobacco,tea,cotton,groundnuts,sugar and coffee. These have been among the main cash crops for the last century,but tobacco has become increasingly predominant in the last quarter-century,with a production in 2011 of 175,000 tonnes. Over the last century,tea and groundnuts have increased in relative importance while cotton has decreased. The main food crops are maize,cassava,sweet potatoes,sorghum,bananas,rice,and Irish potatoes and cattle,sheep and goats are raised. The main industries deal with agricultural processing of tobacco,tea and sugar and timber products. The industrial production growth rate is estimated at 10% (2009).
Billy Abner Mayaya is a Malawian human rights activist,artist,poet and theologian.
National Bank of Malawi(NBM),is a commercial bank in Malawi. The bank is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Reserve Bank of Malawi,the central bank and national banking regulator.
Arthur Peter Mutharika is a Malawian politician and lawyer who was President of Malawi from May 2014 to June 2020. Mutharika has worked in the field of international justice,specialising in international economic law,international law and comparative constitutional law. He informally served as an adviser to his older brother,President Bingu wa Mutharika,on issues of foreign and domestic policy from the onset of his election campaign until the President's death on 5 April 2012.
The Nation is a newspaper based in Blantyre,Malawi,owned by Nations Publications Limited. It began distribution on 26 July 1993,and became a daily newspaper on 11 July 1994,coming out on Mondays through Fridays. Its sister newspaper Saturday Nation,now called Weekend Nation,was launched in 1995.
The 2012 Malawian constitutional crisis occurred from April 5,2012 - April 7,2012 after senior members of the Democratic Progressive Party-led cabinet failed to notify the public of the death of the sitting president,Bingu wa Mutharika on April 5. Instead,cabinet ministers held a series of meetings in Lilongwe,Malawi without vice-president Joyce Banda with the aim of undermining the constitution and Banda's succession to Presidency. News confirming his death had,however,quickly spread across the country through word of mouth,cellphone text messages,Malawian bloggers,Twitter,Facebook,and on listservs by the end of the day on April 5,2012. Therefore,the failure to announce his death resulted in speculation over the real health of the president and over whether the succession procedures would be followed as outlined in the constitution. According to the constitution,the vice-president takes over but there had been no official word on a successor or communication with the vice-president. Amidst growing speculation,the Cabinet announced that the president's brother,Peter Mutharika,the foreign minister,was the new President of the party on April 6. The Cabinet only announced his death two days after his death,after which Banda became Malawi's first female President.
Raphael "Ralph" Tenthani was a freelance journalist from Malawi. Tenthani was a BBC correspondent and a columnist for The Sunday Times. He was a respected journalist in Malawi well known for his popular column,"The Muckraking". He was well known for providing political analysis on topical issues. He had been the subject of controversy for his candid reporting on political issues. He was very critical of the crackdown on journalism during the Bingu wa Mutharika administration. He was also a columnist for Associated Press,Pan African News Agency,and the Maravi Post.
The Kanyika mine is an open pit mine which extracts niobium ore from a large deposit located in northern Malawi in the Northern Region,about 250 kilometers north of Lilongwe. It will be the second-largest mining operation in the country,behind the Kayelekera mine. Kanyika represents one of the largest niobium mineral resource in Malawi having estimated resources of 60 million tonnes of ore grading 0.29% niobium metal. The mine is the main project of the Australia-based Globe Metals &Mining Ltd.
Gospel Kazako is a Malawian entrepreneur who in 2005 founded the Zodiak Broadcasting Station,the most popular radio station in Malawi. He is also known as a poet.