Farmers’ surprise plan to beat climate disaster

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alawi is home to just over 20 million people and the United Nations reports that more than 2.8 million of them currently face starvation.

Much of the reason, unsurprisingly, is climate-related: The Ministry of Agriculture has stated that the production of maize dropped by 14 percent last growing season due to severe drought and floods.

With over half of its population living in poverty, the country is no stranger to food crises although agriculture is the country’s economic mainstay, which employs over 80 percent of the population.

From floods to droughts, climate shocks caused by human activity can decimate crops, upending livelihoods as well as food security.

A study published in 2021 shows that Malawi’s smallholder dairy farmers have far higher food crop yields and annual incomes, more diversified sources of income, and are more resilient to food insecurity than non-dairy farmers.

In this way, the country is quickly becoming a case study on  whether the future of farming is to double down on dairy production and investment.

Why dairy? What makes it a more secure agricultural bet?

According to Timothy Gondwe, a professor of animal breeding at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, animals typically have an easier time adapting to climate change than plants.

“There is no way for corn to modify its behaviour so it can survive a drought, but a cow will still produce milk and its body could somehow adjust and adapt to the heat so it continues to stay healthy,” he explains.

Since dairy is a year-round foodstuff, argues Gondwe, it can act as a steady source of income to support a family.

“In areas where drought hits, the failed crops become feed for dairy, together with grown and conserved grasses,” he told The Daily Beast. “Due to this, dairy is among livestock [goats and chickens] that contribute to climate change resilience among smallholder communities.”

For the small farms where crops alone probably seldom provide enough money for a household, “dairy becomes a better option”, he said.

But livestock is not immune to climate change as drought inevitably harms milk production and kills cows.

But Gondwe argues that it is easier to identify and grow exotic breeds that can withstand changing conditions more easily.

He explains: “Animals in these areas are usually local to the area and have adapted to such situations. They produce and reproduce at low rates that are compatible to the production systems.

“Because of this, a farmer loses in terms of yield per animal, but still gets some output.”

In recent years, Malawi has seen an increase of dairy farmers, thanks in part to investments from government, nonprofit organisations, the private sector, and the government.

The Ministry of Agriculture reported a 3.4 percent rise in the number of dairy cows in 2021. That same year, Norfund invested about $5 million in Lilongwe Dairy, a milk processing company located in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe, to finance the company’s expansion and increase milk production. Lilongwe Dairy buys milk from about 10 000 farmers spread throughout the country, according to general manager of operations Edwin Chilundo.

In 2019, government, with a loan from the World Bank, launched a six-year, $95 million Agricultural Commercialisation (Agcom) project to increase the dairy production of 650 000 farming households nationwide.

Gracian Lungu, then spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, told The Daily Beast that one of the government’s major priorities is to help farmers diversify what they grow and produce to adapt to the worsening impact of climate change and find solutions to food insecurity.

Besides dairy, the government is encouraging farmers to grow more legumes and expand into aquaculture.

Lukasi Jekete, 58, is a dairy farmer in Lilongwe. He has first-hand experience that dairy farmers fare better than others who are focused solely on corn production.

“This year, Malawians are facing food shortages,” he said. “And when you go on the market, the price of food has gone up almost five times compared to last year in the same period.”

Jekete said drought caused crops the field to wither before maturity.

“As a result, many smallholder farmers did not harvest enough to feed their families,” he said. “Dairy farmers are lucky because despite the drought, we are able to get milk every day and use the cash to buy the maize.”

Jekete started dairy farming in 2007 after getting a cow from the Small Scale Livestock and Livelihoods Programme. Today he has six cows, and gets 20 litres of milk each day, which he sells at K300 per litre.

“Any investment in the dairy industry is most welcome,” says Herbert Chagona, the national director for the Malawi Milk Producers Association.

Climate change has “really devastated the agriculture sector” and dairy has proven to be more resistant to the effects than other farming sectors.

Chagona lauded Norfund’s investment, and hopes that more participation from the government and private sector will help more farmers make the transition to dairy as part of their work.

Since livestock is not immune to climate change, he urges farmers to keep a mix of exotic and local breeds. He also recommends better land management to ensure more sustainable access to feed.

“These [solutions], if well implemented on the farm, increase milk yield which is a solution to food insecurity,” he said.