The Quest for Food Security in Malawi: Policy vs Practice

Food security in Malawi

According to the Malawi Vision 2020 report, the country aspires to have adequate and safe food for all members of the households at all times of the year by the year 2020. It is expected that this will be achieved through own production and using cash to buy food from the markets. This report asserts that Malawians will eat a variety of foods and meet nutritional requirements and will have good dietary practices and lifestyles to remain active and healthy. The aspirations expresses in this document are consistent with the definition of food security in which emphasis is laid on access to food by all people at all times to lead to an active and healthy life.

For a number of reasons including low productivity and rising population pressure, the food security situation at both national and household levels has been deteriorating in the past two decades. In Malawi, levels of maize production have been used as a proxy measure of food security considering that it is the main staple of the majority of the people.

The author points out several possible reasons that contribute towards the failure of policy research in food security as follows:

poor communication of findings
policy makers not taking policy advice seriously
research results not adequately addressing food policy issues
macroeconomic constraints limiting the effectiveness of interventions
external factors limiting the effectiveness of interventions
farmers not responding to policy changes.

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The Quest for Food Security in Malawi: Policy vs Practice