andrew namakhoma: agricultural challenges and opportunities in malawi

Addressing Food Security Challenges

The experience of Smallholder

Farmers in Malawi

Andrew Namakhoma (Community Development Programmes Officer)


What is NASFAM ?

• Malawi’s largest smallholder Farmers’ Organisation

• 108,000 individual registered members in 43 Associations

• Has physical presence in 19 out of 29 Districts in the country

• Promotes production and marketing of cash crops, including chillies, groundnuts, cotton, rice, soya, paprika, & beans

• Acts as a voice for smallholders in the country

• NASFAM is a member of the Southern Africa Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) and the international Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP).

Addressing Food Security Challenges A Typical NASFAM Member ...

owns 1 to 2 ha of land

cultivates less than 1 ha of land

production is 60% for food,

40% cash crops

looks after 5 or 6 dependants

2 or 3 dependants go to school

has received only junior primary education

on joining:

- not conversant with best farming practice,

- requires on site, simplified training on agricultural production

- does not have capital assets like treadle

pumps, ploughs, etc

- has 2 to 3 room hut of mud construction and

grass thatch roof

can be male of female

willing to pay a small

membership fee to supportthe Association

self-motivated

basic tool is hoe

ready to change their

own lives

willing to put training

into practice


4

Agriculture in Malawi Agricultural sector:

• Single most important sector in the country contributing;

• 85% of the labour force,

• 35% of GDP

• 90% of foreign export earnings

• 65% of raw material for industry

• Is divided into two sectors:-

• Smallholder – mainly subsistence production

• Estate- mainly commercial production

• Land holding is a major issue – population density 92/sq.

km


Food security defined • Food security exists when people have

physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times to meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

• Food security not equal to own and/or local food production

• Income security equals food security if and when markets work


Food Situation in Malawi • Key Food Security

Crops

– Maize as a staple

food

– Rice, Beans,

Cassava, Sweet

Potatoes,

Groundnuts,

Sorghum, Millet

Food Dietary Cotribution

Maize

Rice

Cassava/Sweet Potato

Sorghum/Millet


Food Security Challenges in Malawi

• Insufficient resources to

acquire food on the market

– 60% of the economy live on

less than $1/day

• Insufficient and poor

infrastructure to support

food markets.

– (information, distribution and

storage)

• Low average productivity for

maize

-0.8 to 1.3 Mt/hectare for

Smallholder farmers


Smallholder Farmers

• 70 % of Malawi population

• Has average land holding size of 0.2 ha.

• Majority live below poverty line, less than $1 per day

• Often runs out of food very often

• Highly illiterate

• Social and economic hardship


Major Smallholder Farmer Challenges

• Lack of resources

• Increasing cost of production

• Illiteracy level

• Unstable produce prices/ input prices

• Poor infrastructure

• Unreliable produce markets

• Depend on rain fed agriculture

• Lack of access to value adding

technologies


Smallholder Farmers & Food Security – Generally, Malawi moved from a nationally self-

sufficient maize producer in non-drought years to dependence on commercial food imports and foreign assistance to achieve a national food balance

– In 2000, only 5% of the SHFs produced maize to last whole year (Sibale et al, 2001).

– average maize deficit amongst SHF is ~ 4.5 months and in poor harvest years this can go up to over 6 months.


How did we get here • Natural factors- droughts, floods, pest and disease

outbreaks

– Droughts becoming a frequent occurrence

– Climate change (diseases,

• High population growth rate

– GDP growth must be more than population growth

– Pressure on available land

– Deforestation (environmental hazards)

• Policy errors and/or disjointed policies –

– Subsidising tobacco production and encouraging diversification from tobacco

• Need to resolve short term emergencies at the expense of LT solutions

– How much emergency aid has Malawi received? What is the impact?


• 2002 hunger- wake up call

• An integrated approach to resolving food insecurity challenges (due to multiple causes)

• A combination of short and long term strategies

-Irrigation

-Crop diversification

-Food Utilization

-Village Grain Banks



Grain Banks

• Buying of maize @ harvest

• Maize is the sold @ affordable prices

in times of scarcity

• Grain banks are within villages

• Farmer-led and farmer driven initiative.


Drought tolerant crops

• Promote Sweet Potato & Cassava

production

• Establish multiplication sites

• Cassava for food (tubers); relish (leaves);

Cuttings (planting materials); income

earner (sale of tubers & cutting)


Irrigation

• Specifically Drip Irrigation

• Though expensive ensures farmers save

labor & time

• Ensures proper utilization of the scarce

water resource



• An integrated approach to resolving food insecurity challenges (due to multiple causes)

– Synergies and contradictions between policies

• Reliable data to inform policies – not ‘it works in Zambia’ syndrome

– Need to understand local/national dynamics but also not reinventing the wheel


Strategies for impact • Invest in efforts to increase both food

and cash crop productivity – Integrated agriculture – legumes in

addition to improving nutrition improve soil fertility

– Integrated livestock and crops production • Improved animal production – help nutrition

and can absorb ‘useless’ crop production

• Adoption of appropriate technology – Farm mechanisation (e.g. SHF tractor

hire scheme for better ploughing)

– Improved crop varieties


Increasing productivity

• Investment in practical agricultural research

– Linkage between research, government, NGOs and

farmers - Land grant universities

– research in crop production diversification (where

you have comparative advantage due to soil types,

composition, weather, etc)

– Extension in proven technology


Investment in Irrigation

• Irrigation – Malawi’s agriculture

remains susceptible to effects of

drought because it’s almost entirely

rain-fed.

– Supplementary irrigation, Second crop

production

• Irrigation to concentrate on water

reservoirs and water harvesting

– E.g Treadle pump irrigation – very

labour intensive, only work in limited

areas close to water sources, irrigate

0.3 ha


Irrigation development

• Malawi potential for irrigation – 400,000 ha; – 62 000 ha. developed

– Of this, 14 000 ha. is SH (Dept. of Irrigation)

• reuse irrigation water by employing irrigation return systems


Conclusions

To maximise positive impact…

• Interventions must look at synergies and avoid contradictions

• Must focus on increasing productivity of both food and cash crops (the role of income security in food security)

• Invest in agricultural research and extension for increased productivity

• ST strategies to be limited to the minority of the population and invest more in LT strategies with possibilities of spill-over to the poorest


Conclusions cont

• Subsidies well targeted and timed

• Private sector must be fully involved in any intervention – help markets work

• Integrated agric (livestock and crops to support each other)


NASFAM in Scotland • NASFAM has some links with Scotland through groups

such as Just Trading under Fairly Traded initiative

which supports farmers through farmer Organizations.

• In 2010 Just Trading procured 38Mt of NASFAM rice

which they supplied to schools, Universities, Church

groups.

• Just Trading also linked NASFAM to IMANI

Developments—the managers of Scotland-Malawi

Trade Partnership, a Project funded by the Scottish

Govt. to provide technical support on improved rice

production process.


Possible Areas of Linkages • Technical support on processing and value addition of

crops such as Groundnuts, Soy beans, Sunflower.

• Possible marketing linkages with Scottish

organizations that are interested in buying smallholder

farmers crops such as rice, Groundnuts, Soy beans,

Sunflower which NASFAM promotes.

• Supporting Smallholder Farmers towards both Crop

and Animal production processes.

• Support toward HIV and AIDS impact mitigation among

Smallholder Farmers.


Thank you for your attention!

Let us contribute to the impact, not

only the debate!

andrew namakhoma: agricultural challenges and opportunities in malawi

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