Diversification and integration of crops and livestock

Improving crop and livestock value chains

Incomes and nutrition for rural communities in Malawi

Project aim

The government of Malawi, supported by the European Union through Farm Income Diversification Programme Phase II (FIDP II), aims at improving the livelihoods and nutritional status of rural households in Malawi through increased and diversified agricultural production, and better market access. In this project… Read more

Project partner

ICRISAT seeks to strengthen the value chains of its climate-smart crops (sorghum, finger and pearl millets, groundnut, chickpea and pigeonpea), to improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers through farming systems development, crop improvement and seed systems, integrated crop management, systems analysis and adoption… Read more

Project sites

Malawi agriculture is largely based on smallholder systems, which cultivate close to 80% of the land, generate about 75% of Malawi’s agricultural output and provide for 85% of the labor force. However, more than 2/3rd of the smallholdings cultivate less than one hectare of land, and with limited investment of inputs… Read more

Livestock for food and nutrition security in Malawi: Policy gaps, needs and opportunities

Malawi’s growing population is expected to place an increasing demand on its food production systems but the country’s smallholder farmers, the providers of the nation’s food, aren’t poised to benefit from this increased demand. Why, one might wonder, does increased demand not translate to increased incomes for the suppliers of demand? The answer lies in

A tale of ‘chicken and egg’: Malawi farmers reduce poultry feed cost by 80%, increase egg production by 200%

Compelled by high cost of commercial feed and low egg production, a group of farmers-turned-entrepreneurs began making nutritious chicken feed with locally available ingredients that cut input costs drastically, significantly increased egg production of Kuroiler poultry and subsequently, their profits. Zaone Poultry Company in Thyolo and Chimtengo Youth Poultry company in Chiradzulu are two Small

Auctions in markets herald higher incomes for Malawi’s crop-livestock farmers

Farmers in three districts of Malawi are able to earn more than they did from selling goats, thanks to a simple intervention that brought transparency, demand and competition for high quality meat. It was the competition among buyers that increased the price for heavier goats of good quality, while the goats of poor quality