MaFAAS Report - Farming & Extension Conference - Final - 08.11.2019
MaFAAS Report - Farming & Extension Conference - Final - 08.11.2019
MaFAAS Report - Farming & Extension Conference - Final - 08.11.2019
THEME:
Acting on Farmers’ Voices for Agricultural Transformation
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Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 4
2. Background ..................................................................................................................................... 5
5.1. Food and Nutrition Presentation by Martha Mwale - Agriculture as the source of nutrition .. 19
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List of Abbreviations
AEAS: Agriculture Extension Advisory Services
AEDO: Agriculture Extension Development Officer
AFAAS: African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services
AHL: Auction Holdings Limited
ASP: Area Stakeholder Panel
COWFA: Coalition for Women Farmers
DAECC: District Agriculture Extension Coordination Committee
DAES: Department of Agricultural Extension Services
DAESS: District Agricultural Extension Services System
DSP District Stakeholder Panel
FISP: Farm Input Subsidy Programme
FRT: Farm Radio Trust
GBV: Gender Based Violence
GFRAS: Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services
GMO: Genetically Modified Organism
HHA Household Approach
ICT: Information and Communication Technology
IHF Integrated Homestead Farming
LUANAR: Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources
MaFAAS: Malawi Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services
MBS: Malawi Bureau of Standards
MIM: Malawi Institute of Management
NAIP: National Agriculture Investment Policy
NASFAM: National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi
MoAIWD Ministry of Agriculture Irrigation and Water Development
NGO: Non-Governmental Organisation
PACHI Parent and Child Health Initiative Trust
PSA: Partnership for Social Accountability
RDP: Rural Development Project
SANE: Strengthening Agricultural and Nutrition in Extension (Feed the Future Activity)
SANI: Southern Africa Nutrition Initiative
SDG: Sustainable Development Goal
SHA Self Help Africa
T/A Traditional Authority
TC: Tobacco Commission
VAC: Village Agricultural Committee
VDC: Village Development Committee
WUSC: World University Services of Canada
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1. Executive Summary
The Malawi Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (MaFAAS) is an umbrella body of
extension professionals, practitioners, students and farmers in Malawi. Its activities date
back to 2008 when a sensitization meeting was held in Lilongwe, Malawi where
stakeholders agreed to work towards establishing a country forum for agricultural extension
and advisory services. The forum was launched in January 2011 and was registered as a trust
in Malawi in February 2017. The MaFAAS has conducted several notable activities over the
years in the areas of advocacy, networking, and coordination, linking with the existing
structures under the District Agricultural Extension Services System (DAESS) through which
the pluralistic and demand driven extension service policy is implemented in Malawi.
The MaFAAS has been conducting annual events aimed at sharing best practices concerning
farming, extension and agricultural advisory services in Malawi targeting various
stakeholders. Known as the MaFAAS Extension Week, the event has been held from 2011 to
2017. In 2018 the focus was shifted to farmers and the event was now dubbed the Farmers’
Conference. In 2019, the MaFAAS organized what is known as the Farming and Extension
Conference, an event that took place at the Malawi Institute of Management (MIM) from
11th – 13th September 2019 under the theme: “Acting on Farmers’ Voices for Agricultural
Transformation.” The theme was drawn from the lessons learnt during the 2018 Farmers’
Conference which aimed to enable farmers and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector
to share experiences and lessons, network, discuss critical issues and develop an action plan
to address issues such as access to land, markets, finance, extension, research and value
addition under the theme “Hear Farmers’ Voices for Agricultural Transformation”. Farmers
raised a number of issues that needed to be responded to, hence the 2019 Farming and
Extension Conference.
It is against this background that MaFAAS organized the ‘2019 National Farming and
Extension Conference’ targeting all stakeholders to provide linkage between the 2018
farmers’ recommendations and provision of relevant services for agricultural
transformation. The objectives and theme of the conference were in line with the National
Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP) launched in June 2018. The NAIP has four programs
which are:
A. Policies, institutions and coordination;
B. Resilient livelihoods and agricultural systems;
C. Production and productivity;
D. Markets, value addition, trade and finance
The NAIP programs are linked to 16 intervention areas, the most relevant to MaFAAS
include:
i. Policy, Program and Stakeholder Coordination;
ii. Farmer Organizations;
iii. Public agricultural services delivery;
iv. Food and Nutrition Security;
v. Investments in agribusiness;
vi. Access to financial services;
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vii. among others;
Most of the issues raised by farmers during the 2018 Farmers conference relate well to the
NAIP programs and intervention areas which are key to the achievement of the objectives of
the agriculture sector such as broad-based growth, poverty reduction, food and nutrition
security, resilience, climate change adaptation and trade development.
The 2019 conference therefore, was a success as it achieved the goals of the sub-themes
that were identified and discussed during the conference as follows:
i. Farmers’ Voices on Strategic Issues in Agriculture
ii. Extension and Advisory Services
iii. Women in Agriculture
iv. ICT in Agriculture
v. Building Livelihood Resilience to Climate Change
vi. Food and nutrition Security
2. Background
Malawi relies on agriculture for food and cash crop requirements despite progress in other
economic sectors such as mining and tourism. Agricultural advisory services play a crucial
role in the country’s development agenda. Provision of agricultural advisory services in
Malawi is no longer a monopoly of the public sector. Malawi has witnessed increased
participation of private, civil society, local and international non-governmental organizations
in the provision of agricultural advisory services. This has broadened the resource base for
agricultural extension services, provided diversity of extension service providers to farmers,
among many benefits.
However, involvement of many players in the provision of agricultural advisory services has
created some challenges alongside the benefits. One of the challenges is inadequate
coordination among providers of agricultural advisory services which has resulted in
conflicting messages being disseminated to the farming communities and duplication of
services, among other challenges. It is against this background that the African Forum for
Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) Malawi Chapter, known as “The Malawi Forum for
Agricultural Advisory Services (MaFAAS)” was established. MaFAAS is an umbrella
organization of the Agricultural Extension and Advisory Service (AEAS) providers, actors and
stakeholders in Malawi. MaFAAS exists “to create harmonization, standardization and add
value to initiatives in agricultural advisory services through sharing of information and
increase professional interaction”. MaFAAS Vision is to be a platform for strengthening AEAS
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through information sharing and action to achieve professionalization, standardization and
quality assurance. The MaFAAS mission is to create harmonization, standardization and add
value to initiatives in AEAS through sharing of information and increase professional
interaction. The membership of MaFAAS is open to public and private sector providers of
AEAS, namely government departments, civil society organizations (Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs), Farmer organizations), agricultural training institutions (universities
and colleges), banks, the media, research institutions, agro processors, input and produce
traders, transporters, and affiliate members from regional and districts agricultural advisory
services. Affiliation is either as an individual or an institution.
3. Conference proceedings
3.1 Day One: Opening Ceremony
The conference started with a
visit to the pavilions by the
Guest of Honour, Mrs. Martha
Mtenje who is the Director of
Human Resources in the
Ministry of Agriculture,
Irrigation and Water
Development.
Balaka farmers explained how they work in different DAESS structures, starting from Village
Agricultural Committees (VAC) at group village level, Area Stakeholder Panels (ASPs) at
Traditional Authority (T/A) level, and District Stakeholder Panel (DSP) at district level.
Farmers were able to explain how the structures work together to demand- extension
services.
DAESS platform members from Chikwawa and Nsanje displayed the Integrated Homestead
Farming (IHF) and Household Approach (HHA) components, especially on visioning which
they said helps households to work together to develop a joint vision for their own
transformation. The display showed how HHA is being applied to IHF to improve integrated
gardens, agroforestry and small livestock around homes, schools and offices.
DAESS platform members from Machinga showcased and sold well-packaged, value-added
products from different cooperatives. Nsanama Cooperative showcased cassava flour and
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baked goods from cassava; Machinga Secondary Cooperative showcased Kilombero rice;
and Naminyanga Cooperative showcased honey.
The Partnership for Social Accountability Alliance (PSA) also had a pavilion at the
conference. They work with the Coalition for Women Farmers (COWFA). The coalition has
farmers from across the country and they produce and aggregate market information. They
practice collective marketing and are able to find good markets and sale their produce at
profitable prices. The coalition is able to access loans for farmer groups and their members
are economically empowered. Their products are soybeans, groundnuts, popcorn, Bambara
nuts and maize.
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Farm Radio Trust (FRT) Pavilion
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Access Agriculture awarding one of the distributors of farmer videos
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3.1.1 Speeches
i. Remarks from the MaFAAS Executive Chairperson
The Chairperson for the MaFAAS Executive Committee, Mr. George Vilili welcomed
all the participants to the meeting and encouraged them to actively participate in all
the proceedings.
He reminded the
members about
the theme of the
conference which
is ‘Acting on
Farmers’ Voices
for Agricultural
Transformation.’
As such, Mr. Vilili
emphasized that
the conference
deliberations had
MaFAAS Executive Chairperson, Mr. George Vilili
to be done in
Chichewa for the
benefit of the farmers that were in the room. “Let’s try as much as possible to
deliberate in Chichewa. This conference is for farmers, we therefore need to speak in
a language that is convenient to most of the participants in the room, specifically the
farmers,” he said. Mr. Vilili, who was also the facilitator for the opening ceremony,
provided a rundown of the programme for the three-day conference.
ii. Remarks from the MaFAAS Board of Trustees Chairperson
The Chairperson of MaFAAS Board of Trustees Dr. Charles Masangano was proud of
MaFAAS successes. He urged all the stakeholders to make good use of the DAESS for
effective service delivery. Dr. Masangano reminded the participants about the
theme for the 2018
Farmers’ Conference
which focused on
soliciting the ideas
and views from
farmers. “As a
researcher, I can
share with you that
research has found
out about demand
driven extension
delivery, which The Chairperson for MaFAAS Board of Trustees, Dr. Masangano
states that farmers
are not demanding and this is what brought about the theme for this year’s
conference,” he said. Dr. Masangano further said that membership of MaFAAS cuts
across government departments and the private sector, and as such, all of these
need to participate in DAESS in order for the services to effectively reach the
beneficiaries and to hear farmers voice for the services they need. In conclusion, the
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Chairperson thanked the Guest of Honour for sparing her time out of her busy
schedule to grace the event. He also thanked the organisers for their tireless efforts.
The Guest of Honour outlined the need for farmers to demand the services in order
to benefit from the services that are being offered. Mrs. Mtenje further commended
the leadership of the MaFAAS for their consideration to listen to the farmers’ voices
and to give responses wherever necessary. “Let me challenge the MaFAAS today to
find lasting solutions to the numerous challenges that still continue to occur despite
the existence of the MaFAAS coupled with good government policies that are
available for agricultural transformation in the country using the DAESS,” she
lamented.
The Guest of Honour called for collaboration and coordination among stakeholders
for effective functionality of the DAESS. She also urged farmers to voice out their
needs and let their voices be heard through the MaFAAS.
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Dr. Chinyamunyamu also emphasized on the need for proper coordination which she
said was very key for successful
implementation of the DAESS. “We
need to know how best to involve
stakeholders in extension for
effective delivery of the services
and to improve the sector. There is
policy opportunity for farmers to
use the DAESS platform in
delivering or airing out their needs
to respective stakeholders. For all
this to happen, a farmer has to be
at the centre of policy
implementation if we are to
transform the agriculture sector,”
she advised.
Dr. Chinyamunyamu concluded
her keynote address by outlining
four key issues to focus on as we
transform Agriculture together: 1)
Focus on the root causes of the
problems; 2) Goal setting; 3) The Keynote Speaker, Dr. Chinyamunyamu
Setting the vision and targets; and
#) Measure the progress.
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achieve the equity that has already been enshrined in several government policy
documents. This was an opportunity to share knowledge so that partner organizations can
create a community that operates within the framework of gender equity. The session also
helped to facilitate a larger conversation about the role of women in agriculture and how to
develop support systems for vulnerable populations, including rural smallholder farming
communities, which mostly comprises women.
A major deliverable from this side event was to identify gender needs in the context of rural
realities in Malawi toward achieving agricultural transformation.
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Malawi tea has export potential
Malawi imports a lot of milk products to meet demand
Malawi is a large exporter of legumes to India
f) Panel Discussion
Participants: Ashraf Saidi represents AGRESSO DEDZA and has a BSC in Agriculture
Extension, specializing in agriculture gender extension; Land policy expert – Beatrice
Makwenda – Works for NASFAM as head of policy and communication department; Action
Aid – Women’s law issue expert – well versed in gender related policies; Chikumbutso
Ndaferankhande – she is the women’s rights specialist for action aid Malawi; Mercy
Chaturuku is the Chair of ASP in Lilongwe, and has been involved with Gender issues for the
last two years and has been farming for a long time; Diana Joshua is a Gender Officer for the
Social Welfare office in Dedza and has been working in gender issues for three years.
The final event of the morning session of the MaFAAS Women in Agriculture component of
the conference brought together a number of experts who spoke to specific issues of
concern for women. The session began with each of the participants introducing themselves
and their particular areas of specialty and expertise. The panel consisted of both
government workers, gender officers, and farmers, and focused on the implementation of
gender equity within the agricultural industry both at the level of the field and the level of
the market. Such issues as land ownership, and equitable access to market for crops were
discussed by each of the participants. Questions from the audience were fielded which
brought up important concerns such as labour equity, equitable land and financial access
for women, legal rights and social reform to mainstream gender equity within the larger
context of Malawi, especially considering that roughly 80% of the population lives in rural
areas. The crosscutting issues of GBV, health and domestic responsibilities were also
discussed as it became clear that these separate elements contribute to a woman’s role on
the farm and in the wider success of Malawi’s agricultural economy. The panel highlighted
some of the ongoing themes that were raised by the speakers during the morning session as
well, and echoed the concerns presented by the audience members. The panelists raised
issues about technology uptake, sustainability, available training for women along with
education, health and violence perpetrated against women that are some of the current
challenges and obstacles to gender equality. The panel also noted that there has been quite
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a lot of positive work done in this area in recent years, but that policies in place need to be
respected and implemented.
Why are groundnuts being rejected by external markets while we have MBS in our
borders?
What is the role of MBS on agricultural inputs since some inputs are of low
standards?
Most of the publications produced by MBS are written in English while most farmers
don’t understand it.
Farmers want these standards (publications) to be translated into our own local
language
b) Agriculture Commercialization
Farmers should be linked to other groups that will help them to increase productivity
Learn how to venture into business within and outside Malawi
Form a cooperative
Investing in production and marketing
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Agriculture Commercialization has come to solve the following challenges faced by
most farmers in Malawi:
Low agricultural productivity
Inadequate farmer mobilization and capacity
Poor access to markets
Poor access to finance
Lack of enabling business environment
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Removed soil cover
Low rainfall
Increase in temperature due to global warming
Forests have ended due to wanton cutting down of trees
Importation of some foods which were locally available from other areas and even
countries
b) The following were identified by the participants as the causes of such changes in the
environment and nature
Population growth has resulted in deforestation during land clearing during garden
opening
Deforestation has caused global warming due to the emission of greenhouse gasses,
shortage of wild foods and animals
Factory emissions and oil spills that results into land degradation and low-quality
water supply
Cultivating along river
banks and slopes
Floods due to silting of
water bodies
Use of chemicals and bad
farming practices has
resulted in land
degradation Participants worked in small groups to identify causes of environmental
degradation
In general, human
economic activities is the
major cause of such changes
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Displaying interactive ICT based innovations that have contributed or have the
potential to contribute to the transformation of the agriculture sector in Malawi;
Giving an opportunity to farmers to share practical experiences on the usage and
benefits of ICT based extension services;
Understanding the linkage between research and ICT based extension services;
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Since SHEP aims at dismissing the dependency syndrome that farmers have then
why are they addressing farmers as beneficiaries; instead of identifying them as
partners?
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Tobacco bales that have gone for re-offers must be well taken care of and the
tobacco should not
take too long to be
brought back to the
auction floors;
If a farmer booked a
certain amount of
bales to deliver to the
auction floors, he/she
should not bring more
bales than what was
agreed on;
There should be a
limit of the bales sent
for reoffer; for
example maybe 5 Farmers at the auction floors
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farming so that farmers should embrace farming as a business;
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b) Stakeholder commitment to MaFAAS is high as evidenced by increasing participation
of stakeholders in MaFAAS activities and number of voluntary presentations made
over the years
c) Stimulation of good performance of other coordination institutions under District
Agriculture Extension System which were limited to district level without a national
level structure for lesson sharing
d) Stimulation of interest in writing among extension professionals in Malawi.
e) Organizing farmers to make demands and raise issues in agriculture thereby
actualizing the demand driven extension policy
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6.2 Report on MaFAAS Stakeholder Consultation
Presentation by Mr. Baxton Nkhoma: MaFAAS Stakeholder Consultation
The presentation gave highlights of where the MaFAAS is coming from, where it is now,
where it is going and how it will get there.
In March 2012, the strategic planning
workshop took place bringing together
stakeholders from various institutions in
the agricultural sector where key strategic
issues for the MaFAAS were discussed in
light of the emerging global and national
trends against its own capabilities.
A Strategic Plan has been developed for
the MaFAAS to address challenges
affecting the institution. The SP has six
strategic objectives as follows:
a) To promote the exchange of
information, innovations and
human resources;
b) To improve the capacity of
agricultural advisory services
partners and members;
c) To influence policies and programs
related to agricultural advisory
services;
d) To improve the quality/quantity of Mr. Nkhoma presenting his report
agricultural advisory services in
Malawi;
e) To identify, encourage and support operational research in agricultural advisory
services;
f) To coordinate donor efforts and input in agricultural advisory services;
Strategic Options/Pillars
a) Establishment of institutional structures
b) Resource mobilization
c) Standardization, quality assurance and capacity building
d) Networking, coordination, research and knowledge management
e) Advocacy, lobbying and crosscutting issues
f) Publicity and communication
Strength
a) Holding conferences every year which are well attended by stakeholders
b) Recognized by the Malawi government and registered as a trust
c) Affiliated to a continental body, the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services
(AFAAS)
d) Affiliated to a global body, the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS)
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e) Committed members make voluntary contributions as Secretariat, Board, Executive
Committee and Organizing Committees
f) Fills a gap in extension service coordination, standardization and professionalization
in Malawi
Weaknesses
a) Does not have permanent employees to work as secretariat
b) Does not have stable source of funding
c) Not very active in tasks
d) Its recommendations are not always implemented by government and other
stakeholders
e) Limited visibility in the extension sector
f) Does not have its secretariat with its own staff
Opportunities
a) Membership fee can be collected to beef up funding
b) Calls for funding are sometimes available which can be utilized for resource
mobilization
c) Pluralism in extension Malawi is institutionalized hence the needs for coordination
will remain making relevance of MaFAAS to continue
Threats
a) There are other bodies which are being created such as National Stakeholder Panel,
Professional Association of Extensionists whose roles and interaction with MaFAAS
has not been clarified
b) Conflicting messages in extension
c) Extension work not being given key priority
d) Belief that everyone can do extension
e) Limited linkages between research and extension
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partnerships;
h) The Farm Input Subsidy Program (FISP) has to stop since farmers say it doesn’t really
benefit them;
(1) The Trustees shall have power to appoint committees consisting of such number of
Trustees or other persons as the Trustees shall consider appropriate and to delegate
to such committees the powers and duties exercised by the Trustees under this
Constitution except the power to make rules and execute instruments conferred by
Article 18.
(1) The Trustees shall have power to appoint an Executive Committee consisting of the
Chairperson, Secretary General, Treasurer, MaFAAS Executive Director and six
members or other persons as the Trustees shall consider appropriate and to delegate
to the committee the powers and duties exercised by the Trustees under this
Constitution or any other duties related to operational implementation of MaFAAS
finance, audit, administration, technical, standardization, and advisory activities
except the power to make rules and execute instruments conferred by Article 18.
Voting took place and 47 delegates said yes to the proposal, while as 5 delegates said no to
the proposal. This means that the motion was carried, and article 19 (1) of the MaFAAS
Constitution has been amended accordingly.
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d) Care Malawi: MK2, 100, 000.00
e) Action Aid: MK2, 550, 000.00
f) Access Agriculture: MK1, 000, 000.00
g) The Govt of Flanders: MK800, 000.00
In summary, the total income realised for the conference was MK11, 220, 000.00; total
expenses are pegged at MK12, 679, 906.67; while the total deficit is MK1, 500, 000.00.
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9.0 Annexes
i. The MaFAAS Financial Report
ii. The MaFAAS Consultation Report
iii. The MaFAAS Constitution
iv. The MaFAAS Annual Report
v. The attendance register for the 2019 MaFAAS Farming and Extension Conference
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