Land reform pace affects agriculture

A study by local think tank, the Mwapata Institute, shows that inefficient land policies, regulation and law is limiting young people’s involvement in the local agricultural sector.

The development is undermining the sector’s potential as a tool for poverty-reduction.

The sentiments follow research by the International Growth Centre, an economic research centre based at the London School of Economics which predicts that Malawi can improve its productivity by 260 percent by implementing reforms that will lead to a more efficient allocation of the country’s land resources, a vital component in farming and agriculture.

However, in its study, Prospects and Barriers to Youth Engagement in Agriculture and Food Systems in Malawi found that young people experience challenges when accessing land because traditional inheritance laws and custom prioritise older family members.

“The high cost of land in Malawi coupled with limited financial capital opportunities has also been reported as a major barrier, deterring the youth from participating in agriculture and exploring prospects within the agribusiness sector,” it reads.

The report’s lead author Maggie Munthali told Weekend Nation in an interview that the report did not provide‌ the quantitative cost of the lack of access to land on the youth farmers as it was beyond the scope of the study commissioned by the National Youth Council of Malawi (Nycom).

In separate interviews, Munthali and Nycom executive director Rex Chapota confirmed that the next series of studies will focus on ascertaining the economic cost of landlessness on local farmers, particularly the youth.

While acknowledging that there was no empirical evidence to quantify the economic cost of landlessness in Malawi, Chapota stressed that youth’s lack of access to land creates a complex web of problems that is hard to untangle.

Agreeing with the Mwapata Institute study, Chapota said the youth’s lack of land limits their chances of accessing loans at financial institutions, particularly those that demand collateral.

He said: “The problem is a bit complex. If our young people don’t have land and equipment, then it is difficult to secure a substantial loan for investment in agriculture.”

On using land rentals as a potential solution, the Nycom head said it would not be a sustainable solution in the long-term because it would deter investment and good farming practices.

A study conducted in Benin showed that land title increases the probability of investing in agricultural equipment by 23.8 percent while holding customary rights increases it by 37.4 percent compared to households without any rights.

It reads: “In fact, land security directly increases the investment decisions of agricultural households and indirectly the use of agricultural inputs, which‌ significantly impact the level of agricultural productivity.”

To resolve the problem of landlessness, Stanley Sazuze, a local farmer, urged the government to prioritise the interests of local landless farmers when implementing land reforms, amid concerns that their lack of resources is pushing them further into poverty.

He was quoted by Devex as saying: “We hope the revised amendments will not only focus on the interests of the large-scale farmers, subsistence farmers also need to benefit from the revision.”