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Impact of APPSA support in Malawi for Rice value chain

Groundnuts farming

APPSA Impact in onservation Farming

Impact story 

Impact story

Dr. Baitsi Podisi from CCARDESA sat for an interview on the weekely radio programme Farmers Diary, on Gabz FM. The interview was originally aired on Thursday 18 April 2019. For more on Farmers Diary please visit: http://www.gabzfm.com/index.php/gabzfm-show-details/id/15/farmers-diary/  

In an effort to serve as a 'one stop shop' for climate-related information, data, and tools, the World Bank created the Climate Change Knowledge Portal (or CCKP). The Portal provides an online tool for access to comprehensive global, regional, and country data related to climate change and development.

Malawi is a landlocked country with a population of 18 million people. About 90% of the population are smallholder subsistence farmers who own less than a hectare of land each in rural communities.Agriculture isthe most important sector of the Malawi economy. The sector includes crops, livestock and fisheries sub-sectors. It is dominated by the rain-fed smallholder farming system and is the major source of livelihoods for rural communities, contributing significantly to the household and national food security. It provides 64% of the total income of the rural population. Most farmers primarily rely on rain-fed agricultural systems, which are highly vulnerable to climate change. The negative impacts of climate change on agriculture have resulted in food insecurity at the local community level as well as at the national levels.

Many of the smallholder farmers in Malawi practice soil disturbing practices of ridging and burning of crop residues, which were advocatedby the agricultural extension system in the past (National Conservation Agriculture Task Force(NCATF), 2016). However, there is evidence that these practices over time result in reduced crop yields; lead to increased use of inorganic fertilisers to produce enough food; and ultimately are a major cause of current high levels of hunger and poverty in the rural resource-poor farming communities.

Climate change threatens agricultural productivity and poses challenges to the stability of agricultural sector in Malawi (Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development(MoAIWD), 2016). Therefore, it is important to invest in climate resilience in the farming systems and promote approaches such as climate smart agriculture(CSA)that are designed to reduce the impact of climate change on livelihoods of the resource-poor smallholder farmers.

In Zimbabwe, the frequency and length of dry spells during the rainy season have increased in recent years—the consequences of which include increased heat and water stress on natural ecosystems, agricultural crops and livestock, which ultimately affects agriculture communities that depend on agro-based livelihoods negatively. In addition, Zimbabwe continues to use an agro-ecological map from 1960 which divides the country into five agro-ecological regions, in spite of the fact that some of these natural regions may have changed over time. This poses a threat to agriculture, economic growth and development as the climate continues to change.