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
Policy Note 49: Can Cooperatives Commercialize Farming in Malawi
Abstract: Smallholder farmers constitute the largest group of economic actors in Malawi and there is increasing recognition that the small scale at which they operate does not offer for most a pathway out of poverty, let alone to prosperity. Increasing... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program
Policy Note 48: Self-targeted Fertilizer Subsidies
If Malawi’s fertilizer subsidy program aims to increase food security in the country, it should strive to target the most productive farmers. Subsidy levels can be set to self-target this group of farmers. This would maximize output achieved with subsi... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program
Policy Note 47: Pricing Farmer Contributions under AIP
The government can set the farmer contribution to fertilizer subsidized through the Affordable Input Programme (AIP) so that farmer demand for the commodity matches available supplies under the program. For any given budget dedicated to subsidizing fer... Source: IFPRI Malawi: Malawi Strategy Support Program
