Malawi achieved independence from Great Britain in 1964 under the leadership of Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda, an American- and British-trained physician. In 2004, Malawi's electorate selected Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawi's third and current President, a retired international civil servant with training as an economist. During his first term, Malawi achieved remarkable progress in food security through a combination of input subsidies and good luck with successive rainy seasons.

Unlike its neighbors, Malawi is not blessed with great mineral wealth or particularly fertile soil. It is landlocked, highly dependent on imports for essential commodities, saddled with high transportation costs, and struggling to deal with high population growth, HIV and maternal/infant morbidity and mortality, chronic under-nutrition, a weak education sys-tem, ineffective governance structures, and pervasive corruption. The view from Malawi, though, is not entirely negative. The Malawian people are resilient, hardworking and determined to make better lives for their children. Government ministries are staffed with dedicated and highly qualified professionals who work tirelessly to support the devel-opment of their country. Focused, highly collaborative development ef-forts with strong local participation and ownership will help them achieve their development objectives and improve the lives of Malawi's ordinary citizens.

USAID's program in Malawi pre-dates independence, when USAID sup-ported programs to strengthen English language instruction. Since 2006, USAID/Malawi's programs have focused on health, education, democra-cy and governance, private sector growth, agriculture, and the environ-ment. Currently, Malawi benefits from all five of the presidential initiatives: PEPFAR, President's Malaria Initiative, Global Health Initia-tive (GHI), Global Climate Change Initiative (GCC), and Feed the Future (FtF).

Positive progress points to the Government of Malawi's (GOM's) excep-tional commitment to ensuring national food security. Malawi was the first country to nationally launch Scaling Up Nutrition (The First 1,000 days Campaign). Among many positive results USAID has helped sup-port significant increases in use of contraceptives and bed nets that are improving family health as well as interactive radio instruction (IRI) that has reached national scale in supporting literacy and mathematics learn-ing in primary schools.

The Health, Population and Nutrition (HPN) program promotes and improves the health and well-being of Malawians by investing in strategic, high quality health initiatives that support Malawi's development goals. The program aims to improve access to quality health care, encourage the development of strong health policies, planning and management and strengthen the overall health care system, including increasing human resources, strengthening supply chain management and distribution of essential drugs to the community level. Technical focus areas include malaria, HIV/AIDS, maternal & child health, tuberculosis, family planning, reproductive health, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene.

USAID supports activities that improve early grade reading skills for children enrolled in primary school by supporting better reading curricula and pedagogies and more reading materials in classrooms. USAID further improves the quality of instruction in reading skills development through support to pre- and in-service teacher training in literacy and continuous professional development. USAID increases parental and community engagement in their children's reading skill development through provision of support to communication mobilization in literacy; strengthening data processing and utilization for decision-making at all levels; and community engagement to support and create demand for a reading culture for primary students in their districts.

With a population comprised of nearly 84 percent rural farmers, economic growth activities in Malawi increase productivity, crop diversity and competitiveness of the agricultural sector as the basis for broad-based economic growth, increased incomes and significantly reduced food insecurity. Activities include: training and technical assistance to increase farmers' productivity; expanding access to export markets and financial services for smallholder farmers and small to medium-sized businesses; and accelerating private sector development. Natural resource management, Title II food aid and disaster risk reduction are also focus areas.

USAID'S strategy in this sector supports institutions and agents of democratic accountability. Projects strengthen the role of civil society and improve electoral processes. The Mission integrates governance aspects into all sectors in which it works, to address issues of accountability and transparency. Current DRG-specific work promotes good governance, respect for human rights and political competition. Particular efforts focus on improving citizens' knowledge of their governing institutions, increasing interaction between elected officials and citizens, promoting human rights, and beginning to support the 2014 national and local elections.

USAID provides Malawi with timely, accurate and actionable information on food security conditions and potential threats. USAID also provides support to address underlying causes of hunger, improve disaster preparedness and deal with natural disasters such as floods.

PEPFAR in Malawi has four goals: reduce new infections in Malawi; improve quality of care and treatment; mitigate impact of the epidemic by focusing on Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA); and strengthen Malawian health systems. PEPFAR's strategic vision and goals are in the five-year Partnership Framework (PF), which Malawi was the first country to sign in 2009. The PF was also signed by both the U.S. Ambassador to Malawi and the Treasury Secretary of Malawi's Ministry of Finance, and demonstrates global leadership and principals of country ownership and sustainability.

PMI's goal is to reach 85% of the most vulnerable groups – children under five years of age and pregnant women – with proven and effective malaria prevention and treatment interventions. In Malawi, PMI focuses on expanding the use of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying to control mosquitoes. The program also supports the management and rational use of artemisinin-based combination therapies and promotes treatment of malaria during pregnancy. USAID is working with the Ministry of Health and the National Malaria Control Programs (NMCP) to cut malaria-related deaths by 50%.

Significant efforts by GOM and partners have improved the health status of Malawians in recent decades, particularly Malawian children, but many health challenges remain. With an estimated population of 14 million people and an annual growth rate of 3.2 percent, the population of Ma-lawi is projected to more than triple in 30 years. Malawi is one of the eight priority GHI-plus countries to develop a whole-government-strategy that utilizes all U.S. Government resources in the most coordinated and effective manner possible. The following three areas of focus for GHI in Malawi are: provision of quality care to reduce maternal, neonatal and child mortality and morbidity; reduction of unintended pregnancies; and reduction of new HIV infections. The United States will make a concen-trated effort on the cross]cutting areas of human resources for health . infrastructure, leadership, governance, management and accountability . that are critical to Malawi's development.

FTF in Malawi addresses risks to food security in this largely agricultural country. The strategy focuses on three areas: improved nutritional status through behavior change, food access and availability; investment in high potential value chains (dairy and legumes) to develop domestic and export markets and improve availability of nutritious foods; and increased engagement with the Government of Malawi (GOM) to improve its agricultural policies. USAID/Malawi's FTF strategy directly supports the GOM's activities under its Agricultural Sector Wide Approach, focusing on food security, risk management, market development, land and water management and institutional strengthening. USAID/Malawi's agriculture and nutrition programs are implemented at the national and community level for maximum impact of both FTF and GHI.

GCC adaptation activities are based on a comprehensive GCC vulnerability analysis. The threat of climate change could potentially undermine Malawi's positive development. Malawi's farmers are vulnerable to changing weather patterns and more extreme weather events. Approximately 90% of arable land is rainfall-dependent and Malawi's harvest depends on only one rainy season per year. Malawi's forest cover has reduced from 44% in the 1970s to 28% in the 1990s. USAID Malawi's GCC Sustainable Landscapes programs promote better forest conservation policies and support pilot and demonstration activities for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), which will support Malawi's participation in multi-lateral REDD funding programs.