Agriculture holds special significance in Malawi, because most Malawian households depend primarily on this sector for income and food security. Therefore, legislation surrounding the agricultural sector, and the foundation it lays for the sector’s governance, are fundamental to the development prospects of the country. At their best, agricultural laws encourage farmers, traders (both domestic and international), and processors of agricultural commodities to fully engage and further invest in the agricultural sector. At their worst, they undermine confidence to do so.
This note takes a critical look at existing legislation pertinent to the agricultural sector and highlight how the unchecked ministerial powers it provides combine with low implementation capacity to create an unconducive investment environment in the agricultural sector in Malawi. It draws extensively on Comstock et al. (2019), which is based on a legal review as well as on over 100 interviews with smallholder farmers, representatives of farmer organizations, commercial farmers, traders, processors, government officials and other stakeholders.
The note then looks at the recently proposed Crops Bill and conclude that it does not overcome the core problems of existing legislation and should therefore not be expected to boost investments in the sector. If passed in its current form it would be a missed opportunity to strengthen the agricultural sector in Malawi. We conclude by proposing two broad sets of amendments to improve the bill.
Authors: Jan Duchoslav, Christone Nyondo, Andrew Comstock and Todd Benson
Read and download the policy note here (PDF 102 KB)
