Accepting the New Normal: Malawi comes full circle on Covid-19
Five months since the official declaration of Covid-19 as a global pandemic, the spread of the virus has come to mean the end of life as we once knew it. It has devastated not only our health systems, but our food security, livelihoods, and social networks.
First, there was denial
Malawi registered its first Covid-19 case on 2nd April. In July, the country experienced a second wave of infections, which was partly attributed to the onset of the winter season. To date, more than 5,000 infections have been registered, with over 100 deaths.
Some observers have compared the trajectory of the virus’ spread to the five stages of grief. At first, the country seemed to be in denial, with the majority of citizens continuing with business-as-usual, even as the number of infections continued to rise. During this phase, certain quarters of the society openly expressed doubt about the reality of the pandemic, with some even calling it fake. Others found some solace in the use of various herbal concoctions said to protect one from the virus.
In a July article analyzing socio-cultural aspects of the pandemic, Selina Kainja compared public behavior to what we saw with the onset of the HIV epidemic. She noted how people in the country were still living dangerously — gathering for prayers in ill-ventilated churches, holding wedding parties, and heading out to packed pubs and clubs — despite having visible signs that the pandemic was real and deadly.
In this blog, I expressed concern that the country was becoming a Covid-19 breeding site, with an absence of serious regulations and political will to protect the citizenry from the deadly pandemic. Unlike many other countries, Malawian authorities did not initially enforce strict social distancing rules, such as the wearing of masks in public, or restricting social gatherings. Ironically, this was also a period the country was preparing for an election, with huge crowds at political campaign rallies continuing to be the order of the day.
Anger turns to bargaining
In April, as Covid-19 was still making its headway, the government announced its decision to lock down the country, just as many other countries had done at the time. This triggered some angry reactions from the citizenry with the majority protesting that a blanket lock down could pose more danger to people’s livelihood than the pandemic itself.
Particular concern was expressed about the dangers of rising food insecurity, and the potential loss of livelihood for some of the most vulnerable citizens, including small-scale farmers and low-income earners. There were calls to ease the burden for these groups, with suggestions ranging from cash transfers, and food relief packages targeting low income earners in the country who were feared to be affected by the pandemic the most.
For this reason, the country’s tax collecting body hinted at some relief measures, such as a promised review of revenue collection modalities, which were worsening the situation of businesses already badly hit by Covid-19.
Reality sinks in
As reality slowly dawned, the public mood seemed to change yet again, this time to resignation. This was perhaps Malawi’s moment of collective “depression” — most likely further aggravated by the long months of enforced confinement at home.
This article truly highlights the agony most people have been going through, and also questions they have about Covid-19. “For how long is life going to be like this?” asks someone. ”Is this phase of life ever going to come to an end?” The unspoken answer seems to be that we must accept this as the new way of living. This is our New Normal.
So, have Malawians finally accepted the New Normal?
In a sign that, perhaps, Malawi’s citizens were finally starting to accept the seriousness of the pandemic, and the need to take more responsibility, media reports started to document a steady change in social behavior from May onwards. One of the like triggers was, quite simply, the growing fear of contagion. Government actions In July, the government announced mandatory wearing of masks in all its institutions. Following this, many other public places like shops stopped offering their services to those seeking them without putting on a mask. Almost every business center in the country now has a signage written, “No mask, no service.”
Given that we must eat to live, as well as the high numbers of people dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods, the food sector has probably adapted best to the new reality. From the early days of the pandemic, agribusinesses had already started to explore ways of innovating their business models to cope with disruptions, while also seizing opportunities to add value to their products and services. Some have introduced door-to-door delivery services, while growing numbers of urban farmers are engaging in roadside businesses, as I highlighted in this article.
With the onset of summer, there is hope that will see a reversal in recent Covid-19 trends. But most now acknowldge that the pandemic is here to stay and must learn to live with it.
As we become better adjusted to all the disruptions in our daily lives, one certainty remains: we must build back better. For the food sector, this means revitalising our agricultural systems, since, more than ever before, Malawi’s economy heavily relies on it. One can only hope that not only ordinary citizens, but the leaders who must make this happen, have finally seen the light.
Written by Nellie Kanyemba Kapatuka
This article is part of Covid-19 Food/Future, an initiative under TMG ThinkTank for Sustainability’s SEWOH Lab project (https://www.tmg-thinktank.com/sewoh-lab). It aims at providing a unique and direct insight into the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on national and local food systems. Also follow @CovidFoodFuture, our Video Diaries From Nairobi, and @TMG_think on Twitter. Funding for this initiative is provided by BMZ, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
