Enhanced women's empower ment has been linked to im provements in various areas of women's lives, such as in creased access to resources, decision-making power, and a manageable workload.

El Niño is a phase in an irregular periodic variation in winds and sea surface temperatures over the Pacific Ocean. It occurs on average every 2 to 7 years and typically lasts between 9 months and 2 years.

In a recent IFPRI working paper, Van Cappellen and De Weerdt (2023), we show how urban growth reduces underemployment in the rural hinterlands of towns and cities.

Key Messages:

Smallholder farmers constitute the largest group of economic actors in Malawi and there is increasing recognition that the small scale at which they operate does not offer for most a pathway out of poverty, let alone to prosperity.

If Malawi’s fertilizer subsidy program aims to increase food security in the country, it should strive to target the most productive farmers. Subsidy levels can be set to self-target this group of farmers.

The market price of fertilizer in Malawi has, in nominal terms, more than tripled compared to two years ago.

It is easy enough to calculate how much the Government of Malawi spends on subsidizing chemical fertilizer. Last year, for example, this was MWK 120 billion (about US$ 150 million) taking up over 50% of the agricultural budget.

Agriculture holds special significance in Malawi, because most Malawian households depend primarily on this sector for income and food security.

Although geographically distant, there are multiple channels through which Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can affect the lives of Malawians.

This report provides a farm-level analysis of the effects of the COVID-19 crisis, 12–15 months in, using a nationally representative rural household survey conducted in June–July 2021. We draw three major observations from the survey.

This note provides an assessment of the first year of implementation of the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) from the perspective of rural households and communities in Malawi.

Malawi’s Affordable Inputs Program (AIP) currently combines an economic and a social objective, respectively: (i) increasing agricultural production; and (ii) assisting poor farming households.

Effective policies and programs aiming to reduce poverty require a clear understanding of how people earn their livelihoods.

The measurement of labor supply in developing countries has always faced a tradeoff between accuracy and detail. Accuracy is thought to be maximized by using short recall periods.

This project note discusses findings from a panel phone survey in Malawi in which respondents were asked about their perceptions of the risks and impacts of COVID-19.

This report answers the question: “What guidelines can be used to identify the types of agricultural investments that have the highest economic return, where “agriculture” is broadly defined to include primary production, handling, storage, transp

Through the Notification of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the project “Advisory Services – Program Management for Development and Implementation within the Agricultural Sector” (DCO-PR-18-0293) issued a to the International Food Policy Research I

By directing increasing shares of their farm production to the market and, thereby, realizing greater incomes, farming households can accelerate local rural economic development.

Malawi, like other southern African countries, has endured several waves of infection since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The disease has had severe effects on the economy, including the agriculture sector.