Equity and Economic Growth: The Locational Dilemma of Malawi's Rural Growth Centres Project

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Periodical article

Title:	Equity and Economic Growth: The Locational Dilemma of Malawi's Rural Growth Centres Project
Authors:	Mlia, J.R. Ngoleka Kaluwa, Ben M.
Year:	1990
Periodical:	Eastern and Southern Africa Geographical Journal
Volume:	1
Issue:	1
Period:	February
Pages:	55-64
Language:	English
Notes:	biblio. refs., ills.
Geographic terms:	Malawi Central Africa
Subjects:	development regional disparity Economics and Trade Development and Technology Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment rural development rural planning Growth policy social justice
Abstract:	Many governments in Eastern and Southern Africa have experimented with growth centres as a strategy for distributing the benefits of development to the poorer regions of their countries. Malawi adopted a growth centre strategy in 1977. The ten growth centres that had been set up by the mid-1980s are essentially community service centres, which provide such facilities as health centres, water supplies, schools, community halls, produce markets, and workshops. Although these centres generally satisfy the locational criteria of remoteness and lack of certain social and economic services, they have been criticized for being unable to stimulate economic growth, largely because of their allegedly poor location. This paper argues that, while this criticism may be valid when the role of the centres is viewed in terms of promoting economic growth, it is not valid when viewed in terms of equity goals. Bibliogr., sum.