National Agriculture Policy.

The Goal of the present National Agriculture Policy is to achieve sustainable agricultural transformation that will result in significant growth of the agricultural sector, expanding incomes for farm households, improved food and nutrition security for all Malawians, and increased agricultural exports.
The Policy Outcomes are defined as follows: i) Increased agricultural production and productivity; ii) Increased diversification of agricultural production and marketed surpluses; iii) Increased use of irrigation in crop production; iv) Increased mechanisation of farming and agroprocessing activities; v) Increased agroprocessing and value addition of agricultural products, particularly by women and youth; vi) Increased access by producers and consumers to well-functioning agricultural markets – input, output, and consumer retail markets; vii) Increased engagement by women, youth and vulnerable groups in agriculture policy processes and programs.
The objectives of the National Agriculture Policy are that by 2020 Malawi will: (i) Consistently attain an agriculture gross domestic product growth rate of at least 6 percent per year. (ii) Double the contribution of legume and oilseed crops to overall agricultural production and to Malawi’s agricultural exports, particularly in processed form. (iii) Increase yields of major crops by 100 percent. (iv) Increase sustainably the production and consumption of livestock, aquaculture and capture fisheries by 50 percent. (v) Increase by 60 percent the number of new agricultural technologies under development and being demonstrated to farmers. (vi) Increase the amount of agricultural land area under irrigation by 20,000 ha. (vii) Increase the use of machinery in farming and agroprocessing activities by 50 percent. (viii) Increase the volume of processed output from agricultural raw materials by 20 percent per year. (ix) Increase the value of agricultural exports by 50 percent. (x) Increase women’s and youth’s access to, ownership of, and control of productive agricultural assets by 50 percent.
The Policy Priority Areas are as follows: Sustainable Agricultural Production and Productivity (1); Sustainable Irrigation Development (2); Mechanisation of Agriculture (3); Agricultural Market Development, Agro processing and Value Addition (4); Food and Nutrition Security (5); Agricultural Risk Management (6); Empowerment of Youth, Women and Vulnerable Groups in Agriculture (7); Institutional Development, Coordination and Capacity Strengthening (8).
Part 4 deals with implementation arrangements establishing that the Ministry responsible for Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development shall: 1) foster sector-wide planning, management and coordination in the agriculture sector; 2) Make prudent public investments in the agriculture sector; 3) Ensure efficient delivery of services in agriculture; 4) Support innovative evidence-based modifications to agricultural subsidy programmes that will make them sustainable and efficient. As part of the reforms, farm input subsidies will be leveraged to increase the commercial provision of farm inputs in a sustainable way; improve land, labour and water productivity; increase diversification in agricultural production; and increase commercialisation of crops, livestock, and fisheries.
The Ministry responsible for Finance, Economic Planning and Development shall: 1) Maintain sound macro-economic conditions. 2) Mobilize resources; 2) Allocate public funds from the national treasury to the agriculture sector; 3) Create tax-related incentives that encourage private sector investments in agriculture to help increase smallholder farm incomes; 4) Promote access to finance for agriculture; 5) Facilitate preparation of agricultural related statistics and information for policy planning and implementation; 6) Undergo public financial management reforms that will improve the efficiency of public financial management to the benefit of the agriculture sector. Furthermore, the following Ministries shall be responsible for the enforcement of the present Policy: The Ministry for Industry and Trade shall above all 1) facilitate foreign direct investment; identify new export markets and promote Malawian agricultural products; 2) facilitate agribusiness licensing and improve the ease of doing business in agriculture; 3) facilitate the establishment and enforcement of quality standards for agricultural products, particularly through the Malawi Bureau of Standards; 3) Promote transparent and predictable export and import controls, particularly in minimizing any non-tariff barriers to agricultural trade. Involve the Ministry responsible for Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development and stakeholders in agriculture in the formation, training, and registration of agricultural cooperatives; Facilitate public-private partnership along agricultural value chains. The Ministry responsible for Lands shall: 1) Promote proper use of agriculture land in collaboration with the Ministry responsible for Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. 2) Promote land tenure security. 3) Identify land for investments in agriculture, including land with potential for irrigation. The Ministry responsible for Natural Resources and Energy shall: 1) Facilitate provision of adequate, reliable and affordable electricity for agricultural enterprises. 2) Facilitate fuel supply for agriculture and agribusiness enterprises. 3) Promote sustainable management of land and natural resources, in collaboration with the Ministry responsible for Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. The Ministry responsible for Transport and Public Works shall: 1) Promote development of main, secondary and tertiary roads to connect areas of high agricultural potential with major markets; 2) Develop the railway system and lake and river transportation for Ministry responsible for Education, Science and Technology; 3) Promote agricultural education, particularly in the areas of agribusiness and value-addition; 4) Strengthen nutrition-agriculture education in the curricula for primary and secondary schools.
The text consists of 4 Parts as follows: Introduction (1); Broad Policy Directions (2); Policy Priority Areas (3); Implementation Arrangements (4). Two Annexes are enclosed as follows: Implementation Plan for the National Agriculture Policy (1); Monitoring and Evaluation Plan for the National Agriculture Policy (2).