Project: Identifying and enhancing the capacity, performances and effects of the pluralist agricultural extension system in Malawi
Beneficiary: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Grant: 450,000 euros
Duration: August 2016 - July 2019
On 8 July 2016, the Government of Flanders decided to allocate a grant of €450,000 to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Malawi. IFPRI will use these funds in the coming three years to assist the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture in the development of a coordinated agricultural extension policy. The German development agency GIZ and the American USAID will contribute an additional €300,000.
The project is intended to enhance the productivity and prosperity of farmers in Malawi by improving their knowledge of sustainable agricultural techniques. Currently, a lot of organisations in Malawi already provide agricultural extension services. However, these initiatives are not coordinated and the quality of the extension services differs greatly between providers. IFPRI wants to build on these existing initiatives, but at the same time allow the Ministry of Agriculture to assume a more regulating and coordinating role.
Flanders’ cooperation with Malawi is entirely focused on the agricultural sector. The majority of the population consists of smallholder farmers who are extremely vulnerable to climate change. By receiving better extension on techniques and crops, these farmers will be better equipped for this challenge. Flanders chooses to contribute towards an efficient agricultural policy and the right to food security in Malawi.