President Joyce Banda has used the United Nations general assembly in the US to tell the world that Malawi still needs global support in the short and medium term to protect the rural poor from food shortages caused by prolonged dry spells in some parts of the country.

Banda was making her maiden speech at the UN and praised Malawians for the peaceful transition, when former President Mutharika died in April.

In her speech, President Banda said Malawi was ready to take its turn to grow and added the country needs support to attract private investment for the rich potential it has in agro-processing and mining.

She also asked for partnerships to build the energy capacity, develop the transport and communications infrastructure to improve the market access to markets.

Banda, who is the first female Malawian Head of State, told the UN general assembly that she has a vision to eradicate poverty through economic growth and wealth creation.

This, she said could be done by transforming the structure of the economy, promoting the private sector in order to achieve economic growth, accelerate job creation and protect the vulnerable and the excluded within a decentralized and democratic environment.

President Banda added her vision was specifically to transform Malawi to become one of the fastest growing African economies in the next decade.