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Malawi's rainfall in 1989-90 and 1990-91 was at best moderate and locally poor. Smallholder food reserves were depleted before the deeper crisis in 1991–92. Rainfall before planting in 1991 was low and sporadic; withdrawing fertilizer subsidies made a poor harvest poorer. Only 40% of the normal maize crop was gathered in 1992.
Between independence in 1963 and 1972, the Malawi government actively supported the smallholder farming sector, as few European-owned estates remained. However, its disappointment with smallholder production brought about a change in government policy, which involved transferring land used by smallholders to the estate sector. [43]
The Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation, usually known as ADMARC, was formed in Malawi in 1978 as a government-owned corporation or parastatal to promote the Malawian economy by increasing the volume and quality of its agricultural exports, to develop new foreign markets for the consumption of Malawian agricultural produce and to support Malawi's farmers. it was the successor of ...
The company has approximately 2,600 smallholder farmers that are organized into 5 different cooperatives across north and central Malawi: Misuku hills in Chitipa district, Viphya North in Rumphi, Nkhatabay Highlands, SouthEast Mzimba, and Ntchisi East. [1] [4]
Traditionally Malawi has been self-sufficient in its staple food, maize (corn), and during the 1980s it exported substantial quantities to its drought-stricken neighbors. Nearly 90% of the population engages in subsistence farming. Smallholder farmers produce a variety of crops, including maize, beans, rice, cassava, tobacco, and groundnuts ...
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. [2] Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology, involvement of family in labor and economic impact. [ 3 ]
The Ministry of Agriculture is the central government ministry of Malawi responsible for agriculture. [1] [2] The ministry has the responsibility of formulating and implementing national policy on home affairs and other subjects which come under its purview. [3] The current Minister of Agriculture is Samuel Kawale. [4]
In the 1940s, Nyasaland smallholders relied on hand hoeing, and a farming family which included two able-bodied adults whose main crop was maize could cultivate 4.5 to 5 acres of land (2.0 hectares) a year; single women were barely able to farm one hectare without assistance.