Malawians: Happiest People in Africa?

A recent 2010 Forbes Magazine study has revealed that Malawi tops the list of African countries with the happiest people or simply put, Malawians are the happiest people in Africa. Although Malawi ranks number 63rd on the list of happy countries on the global scale, this is no mean achievement for the landlocked African country located in Southern Africa bordering Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania.

Furthermore, considering that there are a lot of heavyweights in Africa, such as South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Senegal, among others, Malawians can take pride in the fact that economic or geographic size of the country matters less in so far as quality of life is concerned. At the global scale, Denmark is ranked as the number one happy country, and it is followed by a host of other Scandinavian countries. According to Forbes, the five happiest countries in the world - Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands - are all clustered in the same region, and all enjoy high levels of prosperity. The similarity here is that all these high ranked countries are much smaller economies in comparative terms but they continue to outshine the global heavyweights such as the United States of America, Germany, United Kingdom and Japan, among others.

The research on happiness was conducted by researchers at the Gallup World Poll who acknowledged that quantifying happiness isn't an easy task. They conducted the survey among thousands of respondents in 155 countries, between 2005 and 2009, in order to measure two types of well-being - life satisfaction and income. Among others, the researchers found a positive correlation between income and life satisfaction.

Explaining the reasons why Scandinavian countries are doing well, Jim Harter, a chief scientist at Gallup explains: "One theory why is that they have their basic needs taken care of to a higher degree than other countries. When we look at all the data, those basic needs explain the relationship between income and well-being."

What could be contributing to this unprecedented success for Malawi? Good governance; good macro-economic management; relative peace and security, and improved food security are among the key factors that have led to a better quality of life for the majority of Malawians.

First and foremost, Malawi has managed to reduce its level of poverty - people living on less than one US Dollar per day - by over 10 percentage points from over 65 per cent to around 55 per cent in the past 5 years.

Since 1994, after the removal of the one-party dictatorship, Malawi has adopted a new multi-party system of government and a new constitution that enshrines a bill of rights. The two parties that have ruled Government since 1994, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have been kept in check from abuse of office by a strong civil society and opposition in Parliament.

The ushering in of a new DPP led government in 2004 has helped to strengthen constitutional democracy in the country. The new Government seems to have learnt some lessons and adopted some best practices from the previous two governments – the Malawi Congress Party (1964 to 1994) and the UDF (1994 to 2004) led governments. In short the new Government has been learning.

What is learning? Learning refers to rigorous activity that increases the capacity and willingness of individuals, groups, organizations and communities to acquire and productively apply new knowledge and skills, to grow and mature and to adapt successfully to changes and challenges.

For instance, ‘An organism is said to have learnt when it has increased its options for applying (to a specific set of circumstances), new or different behaviour which the organism believes will be to its benefit.’

What is a lesson? An experience acquired after a certain event; a learning process; a set of instructions to be put into practice; an event, process or activity that equips one with skills, or an intended product of learning.

For example, two key lessons learnt from the previous governments have been respect for human rights and the rule of law, and zero-tolerance on corruption. The new government has learnt that there are a lot of societal gains in adopting these principles.

What is best practice? A best practice is an idea that asserts that there is a technique, method, process of activity that is more effective. It is a good lesson; a replicable product of what has been learnt; an activity that leaves a lasting impact and the most efficient use of resources, and a model of learning.

Among the best practices, the new government has expanded the pro-poor economic policies started by its predecessor and strengthened macro-economic management policies. For the past five years the country has, inter alia, witnessed a drop in inflation, a steady reduction in lending (interest) rates and a reduction in the country’s debts.

Since independence from Britain, unlike other African countries, Malawi has enjoyed relative calm, peace and security. This has helped the country to spend its limited resources on social and economic services that have impacted positively on the peoples’ lives.

Since 2004, the Malawi Government embarked on a massive agricultural input subsidy programme to promote food security at national and household levels. Through concerted effort involving government systems and the market, the Malawi Government has been able to subsidise and provide wide access to inorganic fertilisers and improved seed varieties to small scale farmers. This has increased the production of maize, the countries staple food crop, to unprecedent levels thereby transforming the country from a food-aid dependent and net importer of food to an exporting country.

Can these strides be sustained? This is the most crucial question that needs to be answered as the country moves forward. At the centre of this success story is visionary leadership, a citizenry that is willing to improve their own well-being, and a government that put the people first in its priorities. Sustainability therefore depends on how the country prepares itself to build on the solid foundation that has been created. It may well be the case that Malawians could continue to lead the pack of the happiest nations in Africa and move up the ladder on the global scale. Only time will tell!

Kennedy Lweya, PhD
Training and Development Consultant
Lubumbashi