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Community Economic Development

‘ubuntu’ - 'I Am Because We Are'

In December 2000, the IMF stopped aid disbursements due to corruption concerns, and
many individual donors followed suit, resulting in an almost 80% drop in Malawi's

development budget.[43] However, in 2005, Malawi was the recipient of over US$575
million in aid. The Malawian government faces challenges in developing a market
economy, improving environmental protection, dealing with the rapidly growing HIV/AIDS

problem, improving the education system, and satisfying its foreign donors that it is
working to become financially independent.

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The country's strong reliance on tobacco places a heavy burden on the economy as world

prices decline and the international community increases pressure to limit tobacco
production. Malawi's dependence on tobacco is growing, with the product jumping from

53% to 70% of export revenues between 2007 and 2008. The country also relies heavily
on tea, sugar and coffee, with these three plus tobacco making up more than 90% of

Malawi's export revenue.
***
Malawi currently imports an estimated US$1.625 billion in goods per year, with the main
commodities being food, petroleum products, consumer goods and transportation
equipment. The main countries that Malawi imports from are South Africa, India, Zambia,

Tanzania, the US and China.
***
The official language is English. Major languages include Chichewa, a language spoken

by over 57% of the population, Chinyanja (12.8%), Chiyao (10.1%), and Chitumbuka
(9.5%)."
"Malawi" 476
Wikipedia

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Import Substitution

“ Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy that advocates
replacing foreign imports with domestic production. It is based on the premise that a

country should attempt to reduce its foreign dependency through the local production of
industrialized products.

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ISI is a development theory, but its political implementation and theoretical rationale are

rooted in trade theory. It has been argued that all or virtually all nations that have
industrialized have followed ISI. Import substitution was heavily practiced during the mid-

20th century as a form of developmental theory that advocated increased productivity