As supplementary technology in evergreen agriculture, agroforestry technology will focus on the concept of simultaneous intercropping of proven fertilizer trees in replenishing soil fertility and increasing crop yields. Simultaneous intercropping is an agroforestry technique whereby nitrogen fixing woody trees are simultaneously grown with annual crops on the same piece of...

Evergreen Agriculture is a combination of conservation agriculture and agroforestry practices within the same spatial and temporal dimensions. In other circles, evergreen agriculture is referred to as agroforestry based conservation agriculture or Conservation Agriculture With Trees (CAWT). Evergreen agriculture is being tested by The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in conjunction...

Engaging young women and men in an agricultural sector characterized by an ageing labour force is crucial to ensure sustainable food security, reduce youth unemployment and combat unplanned migration. By harnessing their innovative potential, utilizing new technologies and techniques and taking advantage of new opportunities in emerging value chains, young...

The notion that maize is central to food security in Malawi is a widely held view. To date, however, ‘maize-led development’ has produced disappointing outcomes. The study provides an overview of the historical, political, environmental context of the maize agrifood system in Malawi, and uses the TEEBAgriFood framework to analyze...

Malawi is vulnerable to the devastating impacts of climate change, owing to its significant exposure to climate variability and environmental degradation as a result of human activities over the years. In a bid to enhance resilience among rural subsistence farmers, who make up 70 percent of total population of about 17...

FAO Malawi is set to kick-off three Farmer Field School (FFS) master trainer’s courses that will run from 8 October 2018 to 28 February 2019. These courses aim to impart knowledge and skills to 90 government and non-governmental organization (NGO) extension workers, training them as master trainers on FFS methodology....

In sub-Saharan Africa, crop diversification features prominently in many countries’ climate change adaptation strategies. This study focuses on the determinants of adoption and on the impact of seven cropping systems in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. The work finds that the selection of a high volatile or low productive cropping system...

Due to the challenging couple years for Malawian farmers, government and other stakeholders have started teaching local farmers on the climate change resilience farming methods that are making a difference in securing small farmers' livelihoods. 

This brief 3-minute video reportage highlights the International Treaty’s first field visit with a high-level donor representative, the Norwegian Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Food, into rural Northern Malawi to visit a Benefit-sharing Fund project. It explains the problem and how the FAO International Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund is supporting farmers...

Climate change is projected to have severe implications for smallholder agriculture in Africa, with increased temperatures, increased drought and flooding occurrence, and increased rainfall variability. Given these projections, there is a need to identify effective strategies to help rural communities adapt to climatic risks. Yet, relatively little research has examined...

Using a randomized controlled trial, we examine the impacts of cash and input transfers, and a cross-randomized program of intensive agricultural extension over two years. We find large effects on the total value of agricultural production from the transfers (both cash and inputs) in both years. Gains to production are...

Various models and approaches are being implemented to provide technical assistance and support to improve smallholder farmers’ incomes and welfare in Malawi. This study evaluates the impact of farmer business schools (FBS) on crop incomes of smallholder farmers in Dedza district in central Malawi. The FBS approach, which has been...

The Smallholder Farmers’ Data portrait is a comprehensive, systematic and standardized data set on the profile of smallholder farmers across the world. This Factsheet generates an overview on how small family farmers in Malawi live their lives by using the Data Portrait, putting an emphasis on the constraints they face, the...

The agriculture sector in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the backbone of national economies, sustaining rural and urban livelihoods alike, and providing food and income for the majority of households. Recent agriculture growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has been solid and has supported improvements in nutrition outcomes and poverty rates. Despite some...

The Smallholder Farmers’ Dataportrait of the ESA Small Family Farms Team is a comprehensive, systematic and standardized data set on the profile of smallholder farmers, bringing out the characteristics of family farms across the world. It is designed in such a way that differences between countries and regions can be...

In order to improve global, regional and local knowledge about the underlying reasons for food loss, as well as to assess where critical loss points occur, FAO undertook a series of case studies involving numerous food supply chains in developing countries. Utilizing a defined food loss and waste analysis framework,...

Based on 25 case studies from the global comparative study ‘GENNOVATE: Enabling gender equality in agricultural and environmental innovation’, this paper explores rural young women’s and men’s occupational aspirations and trajectories in India, Mali, Malawi, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines. We draw upon qualitative data from 50 sex-segregated focus...

The Miombo woodland is a vast African dryland forest ecosystem covering close to 2.7 million km2 across southern Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The woodlands are characterized by the dominance of Brachystegia species, either alone or in association with Julbernardia and Isoberlinia...

Soil and nutrients loss are among the major impediments to a stable and sustainedagricultural development in Malawi. They have historically affected the country but thehigh population growth, rapid deforestation, overgrazing and ploughing, combined withthe impacts of climate change, such as temperature increases and changing precipitationpatterns, are increasing the impact of...

Through training, facilitation, demonstration gardens, role modeling, and counseling for sustainable living, a nationally registered environmental service provider, Matthews Shaba Mpofu is able to train rural women and youth, who are in majority in Malawi but are mostly grappled with poverty and high unemployment levels, the basics of permaculture. His...