Vision for agricultural transformation

Ambitious goals can be attainable and where we are can be a good starting place.

Malawi has struggled economically for years, with over half its population stuck below the poverty line for at least two decades. However, a promising opportunity for change has emerged

The Malawi 2063 vision marks a pivotal policy shift towards agriculture, the economy’s mainstay that employs over 64 percent of the labour force. The focus has shifted towards agricultural commercialisation after many decades.

The World Bank’s recent Malawi Country Economic Memorandum identifies groundnuts, macadamia, and soyabeans value chains, which have shown remarkable potential.

Malawi can have a strong foundation for economic stabilisation and long-term growth if we further develop these value chains, leveraging our education system, fostering public-private partnerships, securing financing and promoting exportation.

Education

The Ministry of Education could play an essential role by revising agricultural curricula from primary to tertiary levels, instilling knowledge about these successful value chains in the youth.

If students engage in case studies, explore opportunities, brainstorm innovative solutions and understand how these value chains align with national goals, this would cultivate engagement and practical knowledge among our young people.

Consider young villagers with minimal tertiary education chances. By integrating entrepreneurial thinking into the curriculum, we could equip them with practical knowledge and skills to seize the opportunities immediately available and create a better future for themselves and their communities.

In higher education, the government could foster research and development by establishing annual national research dissemination events where students submit papers and compete for research grants. This would drive academic excellence and agricultural commercialisation.

To transition to commercial farming, anchor farms are arguably a better tool than megafarms at this initial stage to ensure smallholder farmers are not left behind as the agricultural sector modernises.

This approach would foster inclusive economic growth. According to the World Bank’s 18th Malawi Economic Monitor, international and regional experiences show that a vibrant commercial smallholder sector leads to better non-farm livelihood opportunities, sparking rural economic transformation we all aspire to achieve.

For wide spread establishment of anchor farms, the government could form public-private partnerships involving farmers, the private sector and development partners.

The government could designate the involved areas as special economic zones, with benefits such as tax incentives and credit guarantees to attract key stakeholders, including microfinance institutions.

Promoting exports

Lifting forex rationing on intermediate inputs needed in these value chains would ensure the smooth running of operations and reduce barriers to entry.

The government needs to implement complementary policies that promote and facilitate exportation. The first step would be to publicly lift export bans on groundnuts, macadamia, and soyabeans. This would eliminate uncertainty and significantly boost investor confidence by removing one of the major risks in these value chains.

Attaining the Vision

These interventions and policies hold significant promise for Malawi’s economic stabilisation and long-term growth.

By increasing production and exportation in these value chains, export earnings and forex inflows would increase. This would alleviate pressure on the kwacha and help manage the high inflation currently above 30 percent.

This would help to stabilise the macroeconomy. Among many other benefits, the increased availability of foreign exchange would increase the capacity to import essential inputs, including raw materials and machinery necessary for driving industrial growth.

By unifying political regimes under a single vision, Malawi 2063 development strategy provides a consistent benchmark for assessing political efforts to build the Malawi we want! n

*The author is a fourth-year economics student. He is writing under the Building the Next Generation of Writers project supported by the World Bank.