While smallholder farming remains at the center of agricultural transformation efforts in Malawi, the limited impact of smallholder-centered agricultural development strategies over recent decades has renewed interest in the potential role of larger-scale farming in accelerating sustainable agricultural and rural economic development.
This event will present two sets of analyses on large-scale farms and examine how well expectations about their contributions to agricultural growth, commercialization, and rural development are borne out in Malawi.
The first session will explore the history of estate agriculture and its links with the smallholder sector, alongside new survey evidence from households living near three anchor farms or enterprises. It will examine who engages with these enterprises as outgrowers, what benefits they gain, and how incomes generated through these relationships affect the wider local economy.
The second session will focus on the Mega Farms program and its efforts to foster commercialization through large farms. Drawing on findings from more than two dozen in-depth stakeholder interviews, the session will examine how evidence informed the program’s design, the constraints faced during implementation, and lessons that can be learned from similar initiatives in other countries.
Venue: Woodlands Conference Center
Date: Tuesday, 10 November 2026
Time: 8:30 am - 13:00 pm
Program
Coffee and networking opportunity
Opening remarks
- Joachim De Weerdt, Country Program Leader, IFPRI
Lesson learnt from estate farming
- Lara Cockx, Research Fellow, IFPRI
Anchor enterprises
- Lara Cockx (Direct benefits: Who engages with anchor enterprises, and what do they gain?)
- Joachim De Weerdt (Beyond direct benefits: Anchor enterprises and local economic development)
Panel discussion: Making partnerships with smallholder farmers work — for farmers and beyond
- Tate Munro, Chief of party, Palladium
- Ron Ngwira, Managing Director, Illovo Sugar Malawi
- Bernadette Mukonyora, Country Director, IFAD
- Andrew Goodman, Director, Horizon farming
Audience discussion
Coffee break
Lessons from the mega farms program and ways forward
- Boniface Dulani, Director of Research, Operations and Senior Partner, IPOR
- Michael Chasukwa, Director of Training and Programmes, IPOR
- Daniel Resnick, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI
Panel discussion
- Eluphy Nyirenda, Country Director, AGRA
- Jacob Nyirongo, Chief Executive Officer, Farmers Union of Malawi
Audience discussion
Closing remarks
- Fredrick Changaya, Director General, National Planning Commission
Cocktail lunch and networking
