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.
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.
Malawi has a long history of public intervention programs in the fertilizer market, going back to 1992.
Between April and July 2021, IFPRI Malawi conducted its second, nationwide crowdsourcing exercise on the maize and soybean prices paid to farmers.
In this Policy Note, we examine both household and spatial factors that may drive participation by smallholder farming households in commercial value chains for pulses, legume crops that are primarily harvested for their dry seed.
By increasing their production for the market and realizing greater incomes, smallholder farming households can significantly accelerate local agricultural and rural economic development.
Price band schemes have been used in many countries to try and set minimum and maximum prices between which staple food prices vary.
While contract farming provides opportunities to link smallholder farmers to markets, its sustainability depends on how the interests of both farmers and buyers are addressed.
Structured markets are organized platforms where economic agents such as farmers, traders, processors and financial institutions enter transparent and legal trading and financial arrangements (East Africa Grain Council 2013).
This policy note examines employment patterns for evidence of the extent to which a structural transformation is underway in Malawi.
Malawi is unusual in having not one, but two commodity exchanges (Comex): The Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ACE), established in 2006, and Auction Holdings Commodity Exchange (AHCX) Ltd, established in 2013.
Malawi is extremely vulnerable to shocks and recurrent food crises (Barrett & Headey 2014). Malawi also suffers from persistently high levels of undernutrition (DHS 2016).
In early 2016, Malawi suffered its second consecutive year of harvest failure.
This study presents qualitative findings on the dynamics of household and community resources for food security and nutrition in Southern Malawi.
After reviewing Malawi’s recent export experience, this policy note examines the types and potential contributions of structured markets to export marketing with a specific focus on commodity exchanges and export mandates.