The Civil Society Agriculture Network (CISANET) emphasizes that improving climate change infrastructure, addressing post-harvest food loss, and establishing a well-structured agricultural market are essential steps to alleviate food insecurity in Malawi.
CISANET’s Acting National Director, Elizabeth Namaona, highlighted that while many efforts have been made to combat hunger, significantly more work is needed from both state and non-state actors to effectively tackle this issue.
“We need a sustainable and comprehensive, integrated approach to combat hunger, which should include agro-processing and smart agriculture,” said Namaona.
Regarding initiatives aimed at improving food security, such as the Affordable Inputs Program (AIP) and the National Economic Empowerment Fund, Namaona noted that these have had mixed impacts on the country.
“While the long-term sustainability of the AIP seems difficult due to its financial burden on the national budget and its limitations regarding beneficiaries, it has also yielded some positive effects,” she added.
Furthermore, she stated that Malawi must develop proper methods for assessing climate impacts in advance and highlighted the pressing need to reevaluate the measures previously implemented to combat climate change and assess their effectiveness.
Recently, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the University of Agriculture and Natural Resources – LUANAR’s Center for Agriculture Research Development (CARD) noted that some of Malawi’s food insecurity challenges stem from both pre- and post-harvest issues.
These comments come as the government strives to tackle the hunger crisis, with approximately 5.7 million people currently facing food insecurity in the country.
Authorities have frequently reported on various interventions aimed at effectively addressing the hunger situation, such as the AIP, Mega Farms, and farmer non-collateral loans, among other initiatives.