DCAFS & TIPDeP

On 19 April 2024, His Excellency President Lazarus Chakwera launched the Agriculture, Tourism, Mining (ATM) strategy as a game-changer to boost domestic revenue and socio-economic growth. The Government identified these anchor sectors as having the potential to contribute to the country’s economic growth within the Malawi 2063 Development Agenda, particularly the Implementation Plan (MIP-1) for the first 10 years from 2021-2030. Later, manufacturing was added in subsequent conferences, evolving the strategy to become ATMM....

Agriculture continues to be a cornerstone of Malawi’s economy, contributing around 22 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023, down from 30 percent in 2016 accounting for 85 percent of export earnings (of which 40 percent is from tobacco alone) and 76 percent of total employment. The sector has comprehensive sectoral policies and high budget allocation (no less than 10% CAADP target for the past 10 years)....

Access to finance is a barrier to private sector growth because without adequate funding, businesses, particularly Micro, Small and Medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), cannot invest in expansion, research and development or hardly cover operational costs, ultimately hindering their ability to grow and contribute to economic growth....

In the present era, most MSMEs in Malawi are agriculture-related micro-enterprises. The sector distribution of MSMEs is Agriculture (50%); Retail (25%); Manufacturing (15%); and Services (5%). Many MSMEs are in rural areas, family-run, operating only on a part-time basis outside of the agricultural production cycle, and are largely stagnant. They arise mostly from a decline in formal employment and other incomes, rather than a response of opportunities in times of economic growth. Many such businesses lack longevity and thus do not benefit from economies of scale and experience accumulated over time....

The Malawi Government and its main development partners discussed challenges that face the agriculture sector, the backbone of Malawi’s economy, which has continued to limit its ability to meet a targeted 6% annual growth rate. This observation was made at the Agriculture Joint Sector Review held on 10 September 2024 in Lilongwe under the theme “Establishing robust and productive agricultural systems with more focus on marketable value chains”. The meeting was co-chaired by the Minister of Agriculture Honorable Sam Kawale, and the Acting British High Commissioner, Olympia Wereko-Brobby....

Malawi's trade balance has been highly undesirable, hovering around a negative $2 billion in the past five years. The Malawi Government is promoting exporting Malawi’s agro-processing goods and services in priority sectors. Malawi is a member of various regional, continental, and global trade blocs to ensure a more informed negotiation position. Development Partners through Trade, Industry and Private Sector Development (TIPDeP) have demonstrated a commitment to supporting trade facilitation through multiple projects. As of April 2024, total DP funding for trade facilitation was US$287.713 million. This brief outlines the context of trade in Malawi, key DP-funded projects and TIDeP's key message to accelerate trade....

Key Development Partners in the Agriculture sector under the Donor Committee for Agriculture and Food Security (DCAFS) conducted a field visit to the Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP 2018 - 2031) in Chikwawa District, to appreciate the construction progress of the mega irrigation canal which will cover 43,370 hectares of smallholder-led commercial farms....

Malawi has a strong potential to venture into sustainable irrigation development by utilising its ample land and water resources. However, the irrigation sub-sector has been supply-driven with very weak market linkages. Several factors make irrigation financially unviable in Malawi, including the high cost of irrigation development, limited investment by both the Government and private sector, unresolved land tenure issues and unpredictable climate change effects. Over the years, Development Partners’ support for irrigation development has been increasing. As of April 2024, six large irrigation projects are running with a total investment of US$496.76 million. This brief outlines the context of agriculture commercialization in Malawi, key DP-funded irrigation projects and DCAFS Rolling Talking Points....

The Government of Malawi has committed to transforming agricultural production and commercialization through large-scale farming in the form of “Mega-farms” development. The consensus from stakeholders is that the Malawian mega-farms should be managed and owned by the private sector, while the Government should provide a conducive business environment and make available the land for investors. Development Partners agreed to have megafarm vis-à-vis commercial farming as one of the thematic priorities for discussion and support. USAID is the lead agency for this thematic group....

Land Governance is one of the DCAFS thematic priorities under the co-leadership of WB and FAO. Through this thematic group, DCAFS have mapped DP-funded projects supporting land governance and service delivery. The supported interventions focus on the land registration process, institutional capacity building and gender integration in land tenure. This brief outlines the context of land governance in Malawi, some key DP-funded projects and DCAFS Rolling Talking Points....