Malawi Government provides subsidised farm inputs as an agricultural boost rather than a social protection policy.
The Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) was conceived to improve crop yields and food security, particularly during the rainy season. This makes it vulnerable to climate change, particularly cyclones, flooding and dry spells.
Despite huge financial investment in agriculture, chronic hunger and extreme poverty persist.
This slows progress to achieve Sustainable Development Goals to end hunger and poverty.
Most households nationwide are not resilient to climate shocks and external setbacks caused by disruptions to global value chains that result in skyrocketing prices of food, fuel and fertiliser.
The rising prices leave both rural and urban households in need of urgent humanitarian support from government and non-State actors like Opdracht (Mission) in Africa (OiA).
Agriculture accounts for 30 percent of Malawi’s economy and about 80 percent of the workforce.
The farm inputs subsidy was introduced in 2005 by former president Bingu wa Mutharika’s administration, but all subsequent regimes sustained it, with the Lazarus Chakwera administration renaming it AIP in 2020.
The programme, which takes up to 70 percent of the country’s agriculture spending and a tenth of the national budget, aims at improving food security in households with small plots, not commercial farmers as does South Africa.
Despite the billion invested in AIP, poverty levels remain rampant partly due to frequent disasters.
In 2023, the World Bank reported that 73 percent of the country’s population was living in poverty.
Similarly, acute hunger is worsening. The Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee shows the number of Malawians in need of food aid has risen from 4.2 million in 2023 to 5.7 million in the current lean season.
The committee says about 6.7 million people require food assistance so that they do not sell their assets to secure their livelihoods .
Market volatility following spiking grain prices further exacerbates the situation.
Many households cannot afford maize, with a 50 kilogramme bag selling at K100 000 to K110 000 since January.
The worst-hit are the rural poor as the lean period stretches from planting to harvesting, meaning farmers have to choose between buying food or farm inputs.
Early dry spells in the current rainy season point to a bleak food situation.
Food prices surge and income generating opportunities diminish during the rainy months when households’ food baskets dry up.
Given these complexities, government, relevant government agencies should work together to achieve a coherent policy in support of food-insecure households.
This calls for collaboration involving the ministries responsible for agriculture, finance and economic affairs, poverty reduction and social protection and disaster management.
This will help strengthen preparedness and resilience to climate-related weather shocks and other interrelated risks, including market and income volatility.
Households will receive food aid and social cash transfers as a response while preparing land for irrigation and replanting as part of the recovery process.
Government should harmonise policy positions on social protection and agricultural programmes, especially AIP and social protection instruments such as social cash transfers, school feeding and the Climate-Smart Enhanced Public Works Programmes.
The focus on poverty eradication, food security and environmental restoration should be unified.
Aligning these efforts can strengthen resilience to various shocks through targeted reform strategies, including giving farmers funds or vouchers to purchase high-yielding seeds and fertilisers from private traders.
The reforms should also prioritise investment in organic farming using irrigation systems that improve soil health amid surging fertiliser prices.
Sensitising farmers to modern farming methods that promote soil and water conservation is also crucial.
The Ministry of Agriculture should revamp and prioritise extension services by increasing funding to increase access to innovative farming methods.
In certain regions, it would be beneficial to invest in water harvesting for vulnerable households to irrigate their crops during dry spells.
Malawi urgently needs reforms in AIP governance and social protection initiatives to end hunger and poverty amid piling shocks.
