Malawi's National Rice Development Strategy - 2 (NRDS-2) 2024-2030.

The National Rice Development Strategy II (NRDS-2) is a subsectoral framework aimed at making Malawi’s rice industry more competitive regionally and socio-economically sustainable. Recognizing rice cultivation as a pathway to crop diversification, poverty reduction, and economic growth, NRDS-2 seeks to enhance Malawi’s food security and overall economic development by doubling domestic rice production by 2030, since a highly productive rice farming by smallholders will render self-reliance in rice production, create more jobs along an efficient and profitable rice value chain, and increase rice exports to meet the rapidly rising demand in regional markets. The Strategy will achieve this through the following 4 strategic objectives (1) increasing smallholder rice production and productivity by making smallholder farming more market- and climate-responsive through improved seeds, efficient use of inputs and machinery, pest and climate risk management, better water and soil management, strengthened R&D, enhanced extension and ICT services, and empowered farmer groups supported by public-private partnerships; (2) improving market alignment and competitiveness of smallholders in rain-fed and irrigated ecosystems by promoting collective organization of farmers, improving production and postharvest systems, linking farmers to input suppliers, traders, and markets, strengthening value chain capacities and ICT-based market information, enhancing research and adoption of cost-effective technologies, enforcing food safety standards, providing financial and policy incentives, and aligning production with national and regional market demands to boost local and export competitiveness; (3) ensure sustainable rice farming in Malawi by promoting environmentally friendly, socially beneficial, and economically viable practices. It emphasizes efficient use of water and natural resources, adoption of climate-smart cultivation, proper management and value addition of rice by-products, crop diversification, maintenance of irrigation and drainage systems, mechanization, stakeholder training, and dissemination of knowledge to enhance food security, farmer livelihoods, and long-term sustainability; (4) strengthening human and institutional capacities along the rice value chain by building technical skills, enhancing institutional effectiveness, and fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration. It emphasizes training farmers, extension staff, and value chain actors in production, mechanization, postharvest handling, ICT, climate-smart practices, and market systems, while developing institutions’ abilities to deliver technologies, manage partnerships, conserve and improve rice germplasm, and implement policies that retain and expand skilled personnel to support sustainable rice sector growth.
The Ministry of Agriculture will lead the implementation of NRDS-2, with interventions executed through existing institutional structures and public-private partnerships. Implementation will involve close collaboration with other line ministries, including Finance, Natural Resources and Climate Change, Water and Sanitation, Lands, Local Government, Unity and Culture, and Trade and Industry. Funding will be mobilized from the government, development partners, the private sector, and other stakeholders.