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WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION |
UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME |
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Malawi is a relatively small country with a surface area of 1 18,000 square kilometers. Her population of over 11 million according to current estimates is engaged in subsistence agriculture.
Malawi is a party to the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol and its amendments. She is among the low volume consuming countries and is a net importer of ozone depleting substances.
The industrial base in Malawi is very small only contributing to 12% of the gross national product, agriculture accounts for a third. The small industrial base has resulted in a situation where the government efforts have mostly gone to supporting programmes and research aimed at increasing agricultural productivity. Currently there are several programmes such as: on monitoring the impact of past and present agricultural policies on the environment, research in various crops and agricultural practices which will lead to food self suffiency. There has been little interest to invest in research pertaining to the climatic regime let alone ozone.
This is now changing . The democratization process and liberisation of trade policies has led to the demand for information as people are now able to trade freely and compete in international trade. This need for information from government agencies is resulting in a widening of the scope of activities varied out by these organizations. In addition the government has created a conducive environment which will enable the university, industry and government conduct research to meet the growing needs of the Malawi population. The enactment of the Environmental Management Bill which calls for establishment of environmental standards, the adoption of environmental impact assessment guidelines and the promotion of the country's science and technology policies will result in more research being conducted in areas other than agriculture.
The National Meteorological Office which has mainly been servicing the agricultural sector and the airline industry is now expanding its scope to include studies on climate change and vulnerabilities. The organization has also shown interest to conduct research on tropospheric studies on ozone and UV radiation. Contacts with other governments for bilateral assisstance towards procurement of equipment and instruments for monitoring and research purposes has been very positive.
In conclusion, the fact that methyl bromide will now be a controlled substance makes it even more imperative that Malawi should join the rest of the world in conducting research and monitoring of the air around her. Malawi is the third largest consumer of methyl bromide on the African continent. The expanding industrial base, growing population coupled with increasing incidences of bush burning, increasing car numbers and the need for environmental standards all call for research and monitoring. The government will support all research efforts more especially those on air quality. it is the hope of the government that in the near future Malawi will also be conducting research on ozone and UV radiation.
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