Dowa is a district

Districts of Malawi

||Malawi is divided into 28 districts within three regions. Each District is headed by a District Commissioner:*Central Region**1 Dedza**2 Dowa**3 Kasungu**4 Lilongwe**5 Mchinji**6 Nkhotakota**7 Ntcheu**8 Ntchisi**9 Salima* Northern Region...

 in the Central Region

Central Region, Malawi

The Central Region of Malawi, population 5,491,034 , covers an area of 35,592 km². Its capital city is Lilongwe, which is also the national capital...

 of Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

. The capital is Dowa

Dowa

Dowa is a town located in the Central Region of Malawi. It is the administrative capital of Dowa District. William Kamkwamba, author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, was born and raised in Dowa....

. The district covers an area of 3,041 km². and has a population of 411,387. The Chewas are the predominant ethnic group and Nyau dancing is one of the cultures left by the chewa ancestors, followed by Ngonis. These two groups are predominantly farming communities. Dowa district is an agricultural district which focuses on cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

, tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

 and groundnut

Peanut

The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...

 farming, and the main food crops produced in the district are maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, sweet potato

Sweet potato

The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...

es and pulses. The Yao ethnic groups are found mainly in the major trading centres.