Paper short abstract:

The paper intends to analyse the politics of development in Malawi after the introduction of the multi-party system in 1994 with a specific focus on poverty reduction

Paper long abstract:

The paper intends to analyse the politics of development in Malawi after the introduction of the multi-party system in 1994. The case of Malawi is presented within the framework of the contemporary debate and practices concerning both economic development and the initiatives of poverty reduction, having in mind both the relevance of the role of the fight against poverty in the international discourse of poverty reduction and of the process of democratic emancipation of the population.

The paper discusses the main government policies based on patterns and priorities of economic and social development which could deal with the unsolved question of poverty in one of the poorest countries of the world. The policies of poverty alleviation are closely linked to initiatives of land reform and rural development together with a policy of decentralisation. These issues are analysed considering both their specificities and their relationship with the broader topics of development and of poverty reduction.