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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.

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David Spielman

David Spielman is the director of IFPRI’s Innovation Policy and Scaling Unit and has been with the institute since 2004. His research agenda covers a range of topics including agriculture and rural development policy; agricultural science, technology, and innovation; plant genetic resources and seed systems; agricultural extension and advisory services; and community-driven rural development.

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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.

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Publications

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Brief

Does Malawi’s exchange rate regime keep prices low? Evidence and policy implications

2026Changaya, Frederick; Comstock, Andrew; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jamali, Andrew; Kamanga, Frank; Kumchulesi, Grace; Pauw, Karl
Details

Does Malawi’s exchange rate regime keep prices low? Evidence and policy implications

The current exchange rate regime in Malawi is untenable. It results in multiple effective parallel rates, which impose significant costs on the economy and the daily lives of citizens. A key concern underpinning the existence of the regime is that its removal would trigger rampant inflation and worsen livelihoods. However, the widespread importation of both food and nonfood products at informal exchange rates means that the average citizen derives little real benefit from the maintenance of the official rate. After two major fuel price hikes in recent months, pump prices have nearly converged with the cost that would prevail at market-determined exchange rates. Drawing on a combination of price multiplier and food demand simulations, this policy note shows that an exchange rate regime rationalization – through devaluing the official exchange rate to eliminate the informal premium and allowing the Malawi kwacha to trade at market-clearing levels – would not lead to runaway inflation or harm household welfare. Recent fuel price increases – in October 2025 and January this year – have pre-emptively absorbed much of the inflationary impact that would have been associated with exchange rate reform. Our analysis documents the direct, short-run effects of exchange rate unification on domestic prices and finds them to be relatively modest. Longer-term economic growth and sustained price stability will hinge on the effective execution of a coherent set of complementary reforms. Exchange rate unification is a necessary component of this package, but it is not sufficient. Implemented in isolation or treated as a one-off devaluation followed by business as usual, it will bring little relief. It must be accompanied by sound fiscal and monetary policy and sustained export growth to restore macroeconomic stability. We do not discuss the trade-offs inherent to these accompanying measures, as they have been addressed at length in AfDB et al. (2025) and Engel et al. (2025). Critically, there must be a credible and durable switch toward a more flexible and transparent exchange rate regime. It will take time for exports and growth to pick up after a devaluation, and whether they do will depend on economic actors believing that macroeconomic conditions will remain stable over the lifetime of their investments. It will require careful preparation to get the cocktail right. Politically, the current administration might just have one shot at this: failure will make future reform attempts much harder.

Year published

2026

Authors

Changaya, Frederick; Comstock, Andrew; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jamali, Andrew; Kamanga, Frank; Kumchulesi, Grace; Pauw, Karl

Citation

Changaya, Frederick; Comstock, Andrew; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Jamali, Andrew; et al. 2026. Does Malawi’s exchange rate regime keep prices low? Evidence and policy implications. MaSSP Policy Note 56. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/181860

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Exchange Rate; Prices; Controlled Prices; Price Policies

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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Brief

Mindset or economics: What explains the dominance of maize in Malawi

2026Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Nagoli, Joseph
Details

Mindset or economics: What explains the dominance of maize in Malawi

Malawi’s policy ambitions increasingly emphasize the need for greater crop and diet diversity. De-spite these stated goals, the country’s food system continues to revolve around maize, both in pro-duction and consumption. This brief discusses the economic imperatives that drive low-income, land-constrained Malawians to prioritize maize. Only by addressing these underlying incentives can policy effectively reduce maize dominance and support the diversification agenda it seeks to advance.

Year published

2026

Authors

Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; Nagoli, Joseph

Citation

Cockx, Lara; De Weerdt, Joachim; Duchoslav, Jan; and Nagoli, Joseph. 2026. Mindset or economics: What explains the dominance of maize in Malawi. MaSSP Policy Note 55. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/181792

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Maize; Consumer Behaviour; Consumer Economics; Feeding Habits; Economic Behaviour; Crop Production

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Source

Source record

Record type

Brief

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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

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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