Despite agriculture being the backbone of Malawi, limited market opportunities exist for smallholder farmers. In 2014, only 4 percent of cropland (104,000 ha) was irrigated, and only about 3.3 percent of smallholders have access to irrigation. According to the Integrated Household Surveys (IHS) 2016, around 50 percent of farmers in the Southern region have less than 1 hectare of land.
SAMS activities focus in eight districts in the Southern region where most SHF are located. SAMS prioritizes Traditional Authorities (TAs) with higher potential for surplus production for both Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programmes and private markets. Where the potential for surplus is still low, SAMS work with farmers to reduce post-harvest losses. SAMS also works in refugee hosting settings, supporting income-generating opportunities for both refugee and host communities.
- 34,000 farmers trained in post-harvest handling and farming as a business
- 18,000 hermetic bags distributed to farmers for improved storage
- 33,258 members (49 percent women) in 30 FOs support-ed with different BDS and WRS systems
- 16 percent fewer farmers selling commodities immediately after harvest and selling later for higher prices
- 4,400 metric tonnes worth US$1 million sold by targeted smallholder farmers through WFP-supported farmer aggregation systems in 2019.
