1.
Dependence upon Weather Conditions
In Malawi, where a majority of the population lives in small
villages and market towns scattered throughout the countryside and is largely dependent
upon subsistence farming for its livelihood, the state of the weather during
the growing season is critical in determining both the country’s economic strength
as well as the health of most of the population. When the weather is conducive to farming,
the rural population can keep starvation at bay, reducing the welfare demands to
support the poor and underprivileged placed upon an financially challenged,
corrupt, and beleaguered government But
when the weather is poor, subsistence farmers and their families suffer,
sometimes terribly, and the national government faces mounting pressure to take
steps to alleviate the widespread suffering and deprivation or risk voter
outrage and revolt at the next national elections.
While Malawi has a winter and summer season, the temperature
span, at least around Blantyre, is relatively narrow—with average high
temperatures in the mid-80s and average lows in the mid to higher 60s. Blantyre is encircled by a ring of
modest-sized peaks and mountains, and sits on a high plateau with altitudes
ranging between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above sea level, before the table top,
upon which Blantyre sits, drops off abruptly to the south on the way to
Chikwawa, an hour drive south of the city.
Winter requires the occasional sweater or light jacket in the evening,
but mid-day temperatures, especially on sunny days, hover in the mid to low
70s.[1] Malawi
is located 12 degrees south of the equator, so the summer temperatures in
Blantyre, though higher, are not brutal; yet to the south in the Chikwawa and
Nsanje Districts (little more than an hour or two away by car), summer
temperatures soar and the heat is often oppressive and enervating, getting
shade being essential. Though I brought
with me to Malawi both long- and short-shelved shirts, I can think of only one
or two occasions when I haven’t worn a short-shelved white shirt—wearing a suit
coat is never comfortable. Almost every
day is sunny and pleasant, even during the rainy season.
But, from a weather perspective, what really counts is the
difference between the dry and wet seasons in Malawi, the latter generally
extending each year from December through March. The
critical factors during the rainy season are how much it rains and when the
rain comes. Intermittent soaking rains,
conveniently spaced, are thought of as God-sent blessings, not so torrential
downpours, washing away crops and causing widespread flooding, nor extended dry
spells when crops need nourishing and lifesaving water. To
someone from Seattle, it is hard to think of Malawi’s “rainy” season as in fact
“rainy” —almost every day is sunny or at least starts “sunny” in the early
morning hours, clouds frequently gathering in the afternoon, whether or not it
rains. And there are often many
consecutive days without rainfall at all.
But when the rains come, they can be heavy (indeed torrential), but
rarely do they last more than an hour or so, before passing along. Occasionally, Blantyre is blasted with a day-long
storm, misty and rainy throughout, but it is the exception and nothing like the
constant rains, day after day, so characteristic of the western side of the
Cascades in Washington and Oregon. But
Malawians must depend upon the rain they get during the “rainy” season, because
the dry season brings very little rain, nothing more than the occasional
sprinkle; so the rainy season is the time to plant, nurture and harvest crops
and to replenish the critical water levels in the lakes, dams and reservoirs
[1]
Malawians, so habituated to warm weather, find their winters to be cold,
bundling up in sweaters, coats, knit caps, gloves and scarves whenever the
temperature dips, clothing we would don only if temperatures were much
colder.
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