Charm attack: Maize shell women in Malembo village in Lilongwe district. While handing over fertilizer to Malawi, the Russian ambassador proposed an alliance. Photo: Amos Gumulira / Getty Images
PThe crop of Chapola ether maize in the central district of Malawi is almost ready for harvest. But the family is hungry and has started eating green mielies. It will be several weeks before we can dry maize to make flour, a staple food in Malawi.
The season before harvest is called the lean season for a reason. Food is scarce in an agrarian society. And agriculture creates about 80% of all jobs and 30% of Malawi’s economy, according to the World Bank.
Just last week Chapola got fertilizer from the government as part of a program to support the poor and vulnerable with agricultural resources.
“It’s too late,” he said. “I’ll keep it and maybe use it next year.”
Farmers like Chapola may sell the fertilizer to get through the lean season and then have to buy more fertilizer, at a higher price.
For Malawi, the fertilizer shortage started before the Russian invasion. The government is starting to crack down on fertilizer cartels, according to Betchane Tcherene, an economist at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences. “While doing so, the war in Ukraine is disrupting the supply chain.”
With exports from Ukraine cut and Russia under sanctions, Malawi was caught unprepared, and in the past few years, the cost of fertilizer has doubled.
And the world is facing a shortage of phosphorus – which threatens food security globally – due to excessive use of phosphate fertilizers. Phosphates, along with sewage, are washed into the water causing algal blooms that threaten aquatic life. In addition, phosphorus in large quantities is found only in a few countries – Morocco and the western Sahara, China and then Algeria.
Moscow saw an opportunity for a diplomatic charm offensive. Malawi this week received 20 000 tons of fertilizer. A total of 260 000 tons will be distributed on the African continent.
Handing over the fertilizer in Lilongwe, Russian ambassador Nikolai Krasilnikov explained that the gift came with hope.
Krasilnikov condemned the sanctions against his country, saying: “We are very confident that we stopped the blockade of Russian goods and fertilizers a long time ago. We are ready to support developing countries with agricultural products, but we need your vote to support us.
He suggested that countries should help Russia “to benefit from building strategic alliances” in Africa.
He further announced that President Vladimir Putin has invited the president of Malawi to the Russia-Africa Summit to be held in St Petersburg. He said Russian health professionals are also ready to help Malawi fight the cholera outbreak.
However, Malawi expressly condemned the invasion of Ukraine, and in a vote to support the United Nations resolution condemning Putin’s war. Russia also has no real history with Malawi, which was aligned with the West during the Cold War.
And on a macro level the free fertilizer on offer is much smaller than small change.
Nic Cheeseman, from the Democracy in Africa think-tank, said the power play “will work to some extent” but then the country will look at how much money it represents.
“Russia seems to have limited resources, so it cannot produce fertilizers with greater investment in other areas.
“It will not replace the US and China as the most influential international partners in Africa.”
Malawi is also still heavily dependent on foreign donor support; World Bank data shows this number will reach a billion dollars in 2020, with the economy making seven billion dollars. Money from Western donors is important for services such as education, health, energy supply and more.
Russian fertilizer is too late for this season, and too little to raise hopes of new friendships.
This article first appeared on Continenta pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with Mail & Guardians. It is designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. Download your free copy here.