Address by President Muluzi on the occasion of the announcement of the 1998 Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger, Blantyre, Malawi, July 11, 1998

Address by President MuluziYour Honour the Rt. Hon. Vice President Justin Malewezi;

Master of Ceremonies;

Dr. Peter Bourne, Vice Chairman of Global Board of Hunger Project;

Hon. Sam Mpasu, MP, Secretary General of the UDF, and Minister of information;

Hon. Aleke Banda, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation;

Cabinet Ministers and the Chief Justice;

Honourable Speaker of Parliament;

Your Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps; Hon. Davis Kapito, Regional Governor for the Southern Region; members of Parliament; Chiefs; Party Leaders; Religious Leaders; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Please allow me to say, on behalf of the government and people of the Republic of Malawi, and indeed on my own behalf, how grateful I am for the great honour and privilege The Hunger Project has given Malawi; to host the Announcement Ceremony of the 1998 Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger.

The Africa Prize is refreshingly unique, because it puts the spotlight, for a change, on the positive achievements and breakthroughs that are happening throughout Africa.

The Hunger Project is a welcome catalyst to Africa's on-going national efforts aimed at empowering and developing her citizens.

The Prize that will be announced today is, therefore, of great international significance, because it provides much deserved recognition to truly remarkable individuals who have devoted their lives towards helping Africa eradicate poverty in general, and hunger in particular.

That great America President John F. Kennedy once said; and I quote:

"The war against hunger is truly mankind's war of liberation."

Although we now have few "Wars of liberation" in this part of Africa, thank God; these words about hunger are as true today as they were in the 1960's. The war against poverty and hunger is still raging on.

The grim facts about hunger are well known. But how can we move ahead to alleviate, indeed eradicate hunger altogether?

To begin with, leaders throughout Africa must produce tangible results that would add real meaning to terms like poverty reduction, economic development or economic growth,. These terms must cease to be fancy phrases for convenient speech making.

In fact these terms must now become our policy imperatives and mandates, that will ensure that our fellow citizens are healthy and strong, and that our children do not go to bed, as my friend and brother Dr. Sam Nujoma the President of Namibia once put it, "with their tummies rumbling because of hunger."

Therefore, what we need fundamentally, are sustained and effective measures to enhance our production and distribution of food, as well as increase purchasing power among all our people.

In short, we need to move decisively to establish conditions in which ample supplies of good-quality food are universally available and affordable.

Ladies and gentlemen, achieving food security is complex, because it involves an array of interrelated factors. For food security to become a reality we would, among other things, need to:

Above all, since hunger is primarily a consequence of, poverty, we need to promote rapid, broad-based economic development, with rapid job creation and rising productivity.

I am proud to say, in all humility, that the Government of Malawi is moving ahead in all these vital areas, within our limited means.

Shortly after taking office in 1994; my Government established the fact that Poverty alleviation must be the centrepiece of our economic programme.

The primary mechanism for this purpose is the creation of a market-oriented environment; in which all of our citizens have the opportunity to improve their conditions through their own initiatives and hard work.

Simultaneously, we have made historic progress in restructuring the budget in favour of social-sector programmes, especially in the areas of education, health, and agriculture.

Our most notable achievement has been the introduction of free primary education, with.special attention to educating girls.

Another major innovation has been the introduction of the Malawi Social Action Fund, or MASAF, to provide support for community-level development projects, thereby ensuring that the resources are used to address locally defined needs.

Perhaps more importantly, we have created a far more open society, In which people at all levels, can discuss the problems they are facing and debate the solution, freely and without fear of retribution.

One result of these open discussions is the recent completion of a vision 2020 report, which captures our national aspirations for the next two decades.

Notably, the nation's vision includes Food security and Nutrition as one of our top-priority concerns. We have a vision in Malawi that by the year 2020; our country will become a prosperous "middle-income" state.

I am confident that Malawi can become such a state. Although our progress may seem slow at first, I pray that our efforts will provide our children with materially better standards of living.

It is against this background that we deeply appreciate the collective efforts of self less humanitarians throughout the continent of Africa, and across the globe; as exemplified by the lives of past and present recipients of the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger.

This noble group of award winners has shown us that dedicated individuals can truly make a difference in promoting the welfare of humanity.

Ladies and Gentlemen, you will recall, that the Hunger Project awarded last year's Africa Prize to my brother and friend, His Excellency President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambiquel, and to our own sister Mrs. Joyce Banda, founder and Executive Director'' of the -National Association of Business Women in -Malawi. . I

We are honoured that Mrs. Banda is here with us today. I would like to ask her to stand and accept our enthusiastic congratulations again.

Mrs. Banda, we applaud your accomplishments in boosting the status of women not only in Malawi but also- through the example of your organisation - in many other countries of the region.

The National Association of Business Women of Malawi has mobilized over 15,000 women throughout the country and encouraged them to enter the business sector by providing them access to credit, training, information, appropriate technologies, and market opportunities.

Malawians are grateful to the global panel of Judges because; by honouring Mrs. Joyce Banda with the prestigious Africa Prize, The; Hunger Project has truly recognized the efforts of the people of Malawi in the struggle, indeed mandate, to build a nation. free from hunger.

This year, as we have heard from The International Jury Chair, His Excellency Pérez de Cuéllar, the Africa Prize goes to a distinguished statesman from Uganda, and to a distinguished daughter of Mozambique.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my great pleasure and honour to recognise and extend my congratulations to the 1998 Laureates of the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End of Hunger.

First, I should like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to my friend and brother, His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, for having been selected as the 1998 laureate.

President Museveni, apart from establishing peace and democracy in his country, has put in place sound economic policies.

These policies, together with his commitment to the well being of his, people, have created the enabling environment which has made Uganda one of the best performers in Africa in terms of economic development.

President Museveni really deserves this most prestigious prize which recognises his committed leadership towards the sustainable end of hunger in Uganda.

I should also like to extend my warm congratulations to Mrs. Celina Cossa, the distinguished daughter of Mozambique, who through many years of difficulties, hard work and continued struggle has achieved tremendous leadership in creating one of the largest women co-operatives in Mozambique.

Under her able leadership, members of this co-operative have increased food production and supplied continuously the people of Mozambique, the needed food and nutrition.

Her leadership has no doubt played a critical role in reducing hunger and malnutrition in Mozambique, particularly in the area of Maputo.

In her work Mrs. Cossa has also succeeded in empowering women of her organisation to play an important role in the socio-economic and political development of the Mozambican society.

Once again, Ladies and Gentlemen, I should like to express to the Hunger Project the appreciation of the people and government of Malawi and my own, for choosing the City of Blantyre to be the venue of the 1998 Africa Prize Announcement Ceremony.

In closing, I wish to express my heartfelt congratulations to the 20 Africa Prize laureates to date, and to all the people throughout the world, who by their good works, are helping to feed the poor and improve their well being.

In particular, I wish to call upon all Malawians to join hands in working hard so that hunger will become a subject for history books, and no further award ceremonies of this nature will be needed. Thank you; and God Bless.