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Malawi

Despite the country’s heavy reliance on agriculture, this sector is characterized by low and stagnant yields, over-reliance of rain-fed farming which increases vulnerability to weather related shocks, low level of irrigation development, low up-take of improved farm inputs and poor access to markets, inter alia.  It is against this background that the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) was launched. The successful implementation of the MGDS, depends heavily on participation of transformed and well-organized agricultural producers, inter alia. Farmers’ Organisations (FOs) such as Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) and National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) bring together producers of different sizes and often of varying interest and thus enabling governments to speak to organized groups of farmers at low cost.

Making the Connection: Value chains for Transforming Smallholder Agriculture – Session 12: Farmer Organizations in Value Chain Policy Making

ESFIM presented outcomes of its research -for-advocacy work in the UNECA/CTA International Conference “Making the Connection: value chains for transforming smallholder agriculture. Four National Farmers Organisations (NFOs) presented the process and the outcomes of their advocacy work and the role of evidence and research in it: JNC-Perú, CPM-Madagascar, FUPRO-Benin, and NASFAM-Malawi. Stephen Muchiri form the Eastern Africa Farmers’ Federation (EAFF) chaired the session. read more »

ESFIM-Malawi Policy Issues

Policy biases towards maize and tobacco pursued over the years have pushed other potential high value crops and staple food crops to the periphery and thereby limited the export potential and food production capacity of the country. Furthermore, limited agro-processing and low value-addition hamper steady growth in the agricultural sector, while unstable marketing policies and regulations restrict private investment in the sector. Other constraints in the sector include poor market infrastructure, lack of reliable market information systems, lack of cooling facilities and storage/assembling points, low capacity and poor coordination by FOs to effectively engage government in policy formulation. Strengthening agricultural value chains to improve capacity to supply quality produce to an expanding agro-processing sector is critical to strategise to promote sustained development of the farm sector in Malawi. Achieving these strategic objectives require interventions on how best to organize smallholder farmers in order to overcome the limitations associated with diseconomies of scale in marketing; as well as how to strengthen governance structures of the FOs so they can better serve the interests of smallholder farmers. Vibrant FOs would ensure that smallholder farmers are able to consolidate and deliver the required volumes and meet market-determined quality standards, thereby opening up access to lucrative markets. It will also encourage partnership between government and the private sector and so foster the creation and maintenance of a supportive policy and regulatory environment in the agricultural sector. read more »