Micro- and macroeconomic evidence suggest that the promotion of agricultural diversification in agriculture-based developing countries is beneficial. At the microeconomic level, increased agricultural diversification promotes human nutrition and raises household incomes, while allowing farmers to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change. A study recently published in Food Security journal used Malawi as a >> Read more
How diversified is cropping in Malawi? Patterns, determinants and policy implications
April 11, 2018 by
Global Food Policy Report 2018 Launches
March 23, 2018 by
IFPRI has just launched the 2018 Global Food Policy Report, a flagship publication which reviews major food policy developments and events in the past year and looks ahead through 2018. The theme for this year’s report is globalization, examining how current changes in the flow of goods, investments, people and information impact global food system. >> Read more
Working Paper 22: Impacts of the 2016/17 Food Insecurity Response Program on Maize Prices in Malawi
March 23, 2018 by
In early 2016, Malawi suffered its second consecutive year of harvest failure. An emergency was declared in April 2016 and the resulting humanitarian response, known as the Food Insecurity Response Program (FIRP), was of unprecedented scale: almost 40 percent of the population received in-kind food or cash transfers (or both) at an estimated cost of >> Read more
Agriculture support services: Direct effects, complementarities and time dynamics
March 19, 2018 by
Rural poverty remains a pervasive problem in Malawi, and many poverty reduction interventions focus on transitioning rural households out of subsistence agriculture. In a country like Malawi, where smallholder farmers constitute roughly 80 percent of the population and produce about 80 percent of the country’s food, this approach is unlikely to be effective, particularly in >> Read more
What does it take to scale agricultural technologies in Malawi?
March 16, 2018 by
A wide variety of different agricultural innovations and technologies—from seed varieties and fertilizer trees, to inoculants and aquaculture systems—have been proposed by agricultural development programs in Malawi. But how many of these technologies have, or can, be scaled up beyond a project lifecycle? What prevents them from being scaled? How can we learn from the >> Read more
Spotlight on International Women’s Day 2018
March 8, 2018 by
In honor of International Women's Day 2018, IFPRI is spotlighting its work related to closing gender gaps in agriculture, poverty, and health around the world. Research plays an important role by providing the evidence on the costs of gender imbalances and benefits of eliminating them, and the effective approaches that present pathways to enduring positive >> Read more
Adoption and impact of climate smart maize varieties in southern Africa
March 1, 2018 by
The economies of many African countries depend on the agricultural sector. However, the sector has performed poorly in recent years, posing challenges to countries’ development goals of ensuring food security and reducing poverty. This is due in part to over-dependence on rain-fed agriculture, as well as climate change and variability. Droughts can severely impact crop >> Read more
Launching Key Facts Series: Key Facts Sheet on Agriculture and Food Security
February 28, 2018 by
IFPRI Malawi is pleased to announce the publication of a "Key Facts Sheet: Agriculture and Food Security." This is the first in a series of Key Facts sheets that IFPRI will be producing based on the third and fourth Integrated Household Surveys (IHS). The purpose of the series is to present data relevant to key >> Read more
Malawi’s new reality: Fall Armyworm is here to stay – Part 2
February 16, 2018 by
Part II: Managing pests and threats in the longer term This blog series examines the current state of the Fall Armyworm crisis, which has spread across nearly the whole of Africa. In Part I, we took a closer look at the damage, especially on the maize crop, in Malawi as well as the immediate response. >> Read more
Vacancy Announcement: Seeking two qualified Research Analysts
February 14, 2018 by
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)- Malawi is seeking two qualified candidates to serve as a Research Analysts attached to IFPRI Malawi's Strategy Support Program based in Lilongwe. Initial contracts will be for a period of one year. These are research positions requiring a Master's degree in Agricultural/Development Economics or related field, plus 3-5 years >> Read more
