MaSSP Policy Note

Policy Note 53: Economic and welfare implications of the reduction of US foreign assistance in Malawi

For over a decade, the US has consistently ranked as either the largest or second-largest donor to Malawi. Annual foreign assistance disbursements have averaged over $360 million between 2020 and 2023. In January 2025 the US government suspended all US... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program

Policy Note 52: Compounding stresses confront rural household in Southern Malawi

Southern Malawi has historically been less food secure than the rest of the country, and the current lean season will be no different. More people in the Southern Region are in danger of going hungry in the coming months than in the Central and Norther... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program

Policy Note 52: Compounding stresses confront rural household in Southern Malawi

Southern Malawi has historically been less food secure than the rest of the country, and the current lean season will be no different. More people in the Southern Region are in danger of going hungry in the coming months than in the Central and Norther... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program

Policy Note 51: Mitigating the impact of El Niño on hunger in Malawi

Abstract: We describe the likely impact of the recurrent climatic phenomenon of El Niño on maize production in Malawi. Drawing on four decades of historical data, we highlight that in seven out of eleven El Niño years, maize harvests in Malawi suffered... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program

Policy Note 50: Can urban growth reduce rural underemployment?

Abstract: In a recent IFPRI working paper, Van Cappellen and De Weerdt (2023), we show how urban growth reduces underemployment in the rural hinterlands of towns and cities. But leveraging these labor market linkages between urban and rural areas for i... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program