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With research staff from more than 70 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Danielle Resnick

Danielle Resnick is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit and a Non-Resident Fellow in the Global Economy and Development Program at the Brookings Institution. Her research focuses on the political economy of agricultural policy and food systems, governance, and democratization, drawing on extensive fieldwork and policy engagement across Africa and South Asia.

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Development Strategies and Governance

Joachim De Weerdt

Senior Research Fellow / Program Leader

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Joachim De Weerdt

Bio

Joachim De Weerdt is a Senior Research Fellow and Program Leader in IFPRI’s Development Strategies and Governance Unit. He is currently based in Lilongwe, where he heads IFPRI’s Malawi Country Office, engaging in research and outreach activities to support evidence-based policymaking, while building in-country capacity. He has published extensively on topics related to poverty, agricultural and rural development, internal migration, urbanization, social networks, early childhood development and survey methodology. Before joining IFPRI, Joachim was an associate professor at the Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp, and a senior research fellow at the LICOS Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven. He also co-founded Economic Development Initiatives (EDI), a research firm based in Tanzania, where he served as research director for more than 10 years. During that time, EDI grew from a small, two-person start-up to a sustainable, internationally recognized research institute. Joachim holds a PhD in economics from KU Leuven, Belgium.

Publications

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Publications

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Working Paper

Malawi’s agrifood system: Transformation and environmental impacts

2025Diao, Xinshen; De Weerdt, Joachim; Fang, Peixun; Jones, Eleanor; Nagoli, Joseph; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James
Details

Malawi’s agrifood system: Transformation and environmental impacts

This paper is an update of Country Brief 8 in the series of Agrifood System Diagnostics coauthored by De Weerdt et al. (2023). The important addition from the previous country brief is a new section assessing agriculture’s environmental footprint, focusing on water use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by subsector and over time. Unlike the previous version, this brief does not include a forward-looking analysis—using IFPRI’s Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) model (IFPRI 2023)—of the contribution of productivity growth in agricultural value chains on agrifood transformation, employment, and socioeconomic outcomes. For a recent and extensive value chain ranking analysis that incorporates RIAPA modeling results, readers are referred to Pienaar et al. (2023). Malawi experienced slow growth in the post COVID-19 pandemic period. In addition to the economic impacts of the pandemic itself, the country suffered from high levels of public debt and a sustained balance of payments crisis. Global events such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and adverse weather events such as Cyclone Freddy and the El Niño in 2023–2024 further prevented the Malawi economy from returning to pre-pandemic growth levels. Economic growth rates have dropped from an average of 4.1 percent in 2011–2019 to 2.2 percent since 2020 (World Bank 2025), with an average growth rate of 3.8 percent per year during 2009–2022.

Year published

2025

Authors

Diao, Xinshen; De Weerdt, Joachim; Fang, Peixun; Jones, Eleanor; Nagoli, Joseph; Pauw, Karl; Thurlow, James

Citation

Diao, Xinshen; De Weerdt, Joachim; Fang, Peixun; Jones, Eleanor; Nagoli, Joseph; et al. 2025. Malawi’s agrifood system: Transformation and environmental impacts. IFPRI Working Paper. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178668

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Agrifood Systems; Environmental Impact; Value Chains; Trade

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Working Paper

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Brief

The development potential of anchor enterprise models in Malawi

2025Benson, Todd; Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim
Details

The development potential of anchor enterprise models in Malawi

Smallholder-centered agricultural development strategies have had limited success in Malawi over the past several decades. Policy makers are now increasingly looking for alternative ways to accelerate agricultural and rural development. One emerging approach involves larger farms or agri-business firms partnering with smallholder farming households, in what we will refer to as an anchor enterprise model. Support for such partnerships is growing, but there is still little clarity on what they involve, what they aim to achieve and the conditions they need for success. Summarizing findings from a detailed report (Benson, Cockx, and De Weerdt, forthcoming). This policy note seeks to address these questions and provide guidance for future action. We structure our discussion around five questions: what the model is, when it can make sense, for whom it can work, how it can be implemented, and whether it can contribute to inclusive rural development.

Year published

2025

Authors

Benson, Todd; Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim

Citation

Benson, Todd; Cockx, Lara; and De Weerdt, Joachim. 2025. The development potential of anchor enterprise models in Malawi. MaSSP Policy Note 54. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178508

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Development; Enterprises; Contract Farming; Farming Systems

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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Opinion Piece

Malawi can end hunger after the 2025 elections if bold steps are taken to transform food systems

2025De Weerdt, Joachim; Chirwa, Gowokani Chijere; Duchoslav, Jan; Nagoli, Joseph; Cockx, Lara
Details

Malawi can end hunger after the 2025 elections if bold steps are taken to transform food systems

Malawi has a history of peaceful democratic transitions. Since the advent of multiparty politics in 1994, power has regularly shifted between rival parties. Citizens and institutions have upheld electoral democratic norms, from respecting term limits to rerunning elections after irregularities. Yet, democratic elections haven’t translated into economic prosperity, nor into strong economic institutions. Malawi remains the world’s poorest conflict-free nation. At the last count in 2019, 70% of Malawians lived below the international poverty line of US$2.15 per day. More than half of Malawi’s residents are deprived in many, overlapping ways.

Year published

2025

Authors

De Weerdt, Joachim; Chirwa, Gowokani Chijere; Duchoslav, Jan; Nagoli, Joseph; Cockx, Lara

Citation

De Weerdt, Joachim; Chirwa, Gowokani Chijere; Duchoslav, Jan; Nagoli, Joseph; and Cockx, Lara. 2025. Malawi can end hunger after the 2025 elections if bold steps are taken to transform food systems. The Conversation. Article published September 14, 2025. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAJ.yyj5xdcek

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Hunger; Food Systems; Political Systems; Poverty

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.64628/aaj.yyj5xdcek Source record

Record type

Opinion Piece

Blogs

Behavioral explanations for the sell-low-buy-high puzzle in smallholder market participation: Lessons from a field experiment in Malawi
Research Post
 | 
July 22, 2024

Behavioral explanations for the sell-low-buy-high puzzle in smallholder market participation: Lessons from a field experiment in Malawi

By Joachim De Weerdt, Brian Dillon, Emmanuel Hami, Bjorn Van Campenhout, and Leocardia Nabwire

Our study tested two behavioral interventions—budgeting and sales planning—to understand and mitigate this paradox.

Responding to Malawi’s impending food crisis
Issue Post
 | 
May 31, 2024

Responding to Malawi’s impending food crisis

By Jan Duchoslav, Mazvita Chiduwa, Simon Denhere, Joachim De Weerdt, Rodwell Mzonde, and George Phiri

Food imports can make up for shortages if quick action is taken.

Act now to address Malawi’s looming food crisis
Issue Post
 | 
April 12, 2024

Act now to address Malawi’s looming food crisis

By Jan Duchoslav, Joachim De Weerdt, and Rodwell Mzonde

Harvest shortfalls caused by severe drought conditions.

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Events

Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD9)
IFPRI at External Event

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July 24 to August 20, 2025

Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD9)

The Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) is co-hosted by the Government of Japan, the United Nations, UNDP, the World Bank, and the African Union Commission and will take place in Yokohama, Japan, from August 20 to 22, 2025. The TICAD9 conference promotes African ownership and international partnership, bringing together heads of […]

From Relief to Resilience in Somalia: Harnessing Research to Inform Social Protection Policy and Practice
IFPRI Program/Country Event

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June 16, 2025, 3:30 – 5:00 pm

From Relief to Resilience in Somalia: Harnessing Research to Inform Social Protection Policy and Practice

Policymakers and program implementers in Somalia are increasingly recognizing the importance of complementing short-term support in the form of cash or in-kind transfers with interventions targeting longer-term development goals and poverty exit, a goal that cuts across both more traditional social protection systems and programming targeting internally displaced people. This webinar will bring together representatives […]

Implications of El Niño 2023/24 for Africa South of the Sahara
IFPRI Policy Seminar

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November 29, 2023, 7:30 – 9:00 am

Implications of El Niño 2023/24 for Africa South of the Sahara

Virtual Event: November 29, 2023 at 7:30am-9:00am EST. IFPRI in collaboration with USAID FEWS NET and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, is hosting a presentation on the potential impact of the upcoming El Niño on the global agrifood system, with special emphasis on low-income countries in Africa South of the Sahara. The event will be organized around four short talks.

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News

September 12, 2024 | In the News

Tale of two villages: In Malawi, farmers point the way as drought drives hunger (WFP/AllAfrica/Relief Web)

The WFP story shared by All Africa and Relief Web quotes Jan Duchoslav and Joachim De Weerdt (IFPRI Malawi) on the food security crisis in the country.

Research

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