The Bonet Framework

Voices from the field—thinking through change

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  • The Last-Minute Scholar: The Echo and the Seed

    The archives taught me that history doesn’t whisper; it echoes. And if you listen closely, you can hear it in the rustling of corn leaves, the sound of a market coin clinking and the silence of a field that is ready to be planted.

    I used to think that strategy was something you wrote down in meetings. Now I know that it’s also born in kitchens, in family arguments, and in the quiet decision of someone to plant groundnuts instead of going after quick money. Because of this, I started to talk differently. Not louder, but clearer. I stopped asking people what they wanted to plant. I asked them what they wanted to leave behind. Not just for their kids, but also for the soil, the market, and the story.

    I saw that each village had something to sell. But not all of the villages had a plan. And not every plan remembered. So, I started to mix memory with strategy. I told stories of countries that grew from grain and fell because of greed. I used irony to show how we act. I used the Bible to give us hope.

    And gradually, things began to change. People stopped looking for quick fixes. They began to ask for systems. For stories. For tools that could last longer than their goals. That was when I knew the seed had grown.

  • The Last-Minute Scholar

    We often tell young people to study early, not because it’s a habit, but because we’ve learnt from our mistakes. I learnt this the hard way.

    There was a chance to get a scholarship, but only for people of a certain age. I wasn’t nominated. But fate has a strange way of breaking the rules. One of the nominees was not eligible because they were above the restricted age. I was suddenly the last choice, with only one day left before the deadline.

    I started to panic. I rushed to get the papers I needed and quickly wrote a Concept Note. What do I suggest? “One Product, One Village.” I imagined a Malawi where competitive advantage wasn’t just a theory; it was a way to build internal markets. In the south, there are pigeon peas and animals. Field crops in the Central Region. In the north, there are cows, coffee, and more. We would only focus on improving quality and exporting once we met domestic demand, just like China did. It was a big goal. It was unprocessed. It was a dream.

    And for some reason, it worked.
    I was given a chance to get a higher degree. When I got there, the faculty greeted me with a curious comment: “We looked at your study interest.” Very interesting. But then the turn came. They said, “We have priorities as a country.” They thought that my topic fit better with Food Science and Technology. What they really wanted was Economic History Exploration.

    They gave me a task: “Help us figure out how agro-processing helped the US, UK, Japan, and South Korea get out of the middle-income trap.” We have information that goes back to the year 1400. Look at it. “Tell us what you think.”

    And just like that, my dream of internal markets came up against the facts of world history.

  • The Fire and the Knowing: A Reflection with Scripture

    It has been exactly one month since I had the dream. I was making food. The pot was full, the fire was strong, and the food looked good at first. But it kept burning as I watched. I moved, I waited, and I hoped. It still burned.

    “Lord, why is the food burning?” I asked. What can I do?

    And the Lord said, “You are old enough to know what to do.”

    That moment made me think of Hebrews 5:14: “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

    It wasn’t just that the food was burned. It was about being able to tell the difference. About knowing when to do something, when to stop, and when to trust the wisdom that comes from years of prayer, experience, and quiet obedience.

    I put out the fire.

    That simple thing turned into a spiritual symbol. For letting go of things that don’t help anymore. For knowing when being persistent is hurting you. For taking on the role of an adult.

    It sounds a lot like Ecclesiastes 3:1: “Everything has a season, and everything has a time to be done.”

    There is a time to stir the pot and a time to put out the fire.

    And maybe most importantly, it makes me think of James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God… and it will be given to him.”

    But in this dream, the wisdom didn’t come as new instructions. It was a reminder: You already know.

  • Promises in Parallel: A Comparative Policy Analysis of the MCP and DPP 2025–2030 Manifestos in Malawi

    Overview

    As Malawi prepares for another major election, the battle of ideas between political parties is just as essential as the vote. Both the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have released manifestos that explain how they want the country to flourish between 2025 and 2030. When you look closely, it’s evident that the MCP manifesto is better in terms of both its scope and ambition. The DPP manifesto offers some good ideas, but it doesn’t have the depth, breadth, or transformative vision that the MCP’s five-pillar approach has.

    A defined plan and a goal for change

    The MCP manifesto is different because it is based on five fundamental ideas: food security, job creation, wealth creation, service delivery, and governance reform. These pillars aren’t just phrases; they have concrete aims and programs that can be measured. The “Make Malawi Feed Malawi” initiative is an example of this. It intends to make Malawi self-sufficient in food by 2030 by adopting mega-farms and farming practices that are good for the environment.

    The DPP manifesto, on the other hand, is more detailed. It proposes that each constituency should get K5 billion a year for development and K100 million a year for loans to young people. The strategy is basic, which is positive, but it doesn’t contain the macroeconomic and sector-wide policy planning needed to fix structural poverty and lack of development.

     Giving Everyone Economic Power

    The MCP’s manifesto talks about the Ten-Ten Makwacha Youth Challenge, which will train 10,000 young people and give each of them K10 million to start a small business or an agriculture. This is supported by a proposal to develop the National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF) into a development bank that will assist women and young people in launching their own enterprises.

    The DPP’s youth finance program, on the other hand, solely lends money to people who live in their own districts. It doesn’t incorporate the MCP’s ideas for institutional improvements or training programs. This means that DPP’s efforts to make the economy stronger are more about striking bargains than about making lasting changes.

    Changes to how the government works and how people serve it

    MCP has a brave and new method of running things. The Chakwera Masterplan is one example. It has 72 ideas for how to make services better in 24 different sectors. It also promises to appoint at least four cabinet members who are younger than 35 years old to make sure that younger people are involved in leadership. The purpose of these improvements is to make accountability, efficiency, and getting young people involved in public service.

    The DPP, on the other hand, wants to be more fiscally responsible by advocating a smaller cabinet, slashing expenditures for state houses, and looking into VAT exemptions for public officials. These changes are good and needed, but they are more about saving money than making the system better.

    Goals and Social Welfare

    One of the most controversial and ambitious initiatives in the MCP platform is the K500,000 Child Investment Plan. It would offer every newborn a one-time financial gift to assist them in getting off to a good start in life. Some people are worried about how it will be paid for, but the purpose demonstrates that MCP is serious about radical social protection.

    There aren’t any national-level social safety net measures in the DPP’s manifesto. Even though its adjustments to infrastructure and security, like deploying CCTV to modernise traffic enforcement and making it unlawful to give out on-the-spot penalties, are important moves, they don’t fix the root socioeconomic problems that most Malawians have.

    Long-Term Development Alignment

    The manifesto of the MCP is substantially similar to Malawi Vision 2063. The ATM+M strategy, which stands for Agriculture, Tourism, Mining, and Manufacturing, is how it plans to make money. This illustrates that the economy is changing in a way that looks to the future.

    DPP’s manifesto doesn’t match up with long-term development ambitions, which could make it less in line with national and donor strategies.

     Last Thoughts

    The DPP manifesto includes some good and sensible ideas about the economy, but it doesn’t have the same level of depth, inclusivity, and desire to change things as the MCP manifesto does. MCP’s five-pillar approach is risky, but it is a better plan for the future growth of Malawi. The MCP gives us a plan for the country’s rebirth, not merely for winning elections. It covers things like empowering young people, creating jobs, increasing wealth, and improving public services delivery.

  • Evaluating the Feasibility of K5 Billion CDF per Constituency—a Brief

    Context: The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) wants to give each of Malawi’s 229 constituencies K5 billion a year through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

    Total Cost: K5 billion times 229 constituencies is K1.145 trillion a year.

    Key Concerns:

    1. CDF would use up around 23% of the national budget or over half of all domestic revenue.
    2. Malawi’s national debt is already 86% of its GDP, thus taking on further debt could cause a disaster.
    3. If the government puts money into the economy and it doesn’t work, inflation and a lack of foreign exchange will get worse.
    4. Most local governments have weaker internal control systems and won’t be good at handling a lot of money, which makes it more likely that the money will be stolen or misused if appropriate oversight systems are not put in place.
    5. The CDF right now is K200 million for each constituency. A rise to K5 billion would be a 25 times’ rise.

    Feasible Alternatives:

    ChoiceHow muchTotal CostFeasibility
    ConservativeK200 millionK45.8 billion KwachaAchievable
    ModerateK500 millionK114.5 billion KwachaPossible
    Proposal from the DPPFive billion KwachaK1.145 trillion KwachaImpractical

    Conclusion: The DPP’s vision of development based on seats is fine, however the suggested K5 billion annual CDF per constituency is not a good plan for the economy. A phased or capped strategy that goes along with reforms in accountability and building up local capability would be more practical.