Factors Affecting Agriculture and Natural Resources Management in Malawi

Abstract

Abstract This chapter examines implications of Malawi’s historical shifts in policies and approaches identified in existing literature on agriculture and natural resource management in order to draw lessons for improvements in promoting agricultural productivity and economic growth. Malawi and similar developing countries’ agricultural sectors are affected by the high cost of unsustainable agricultural practices, which induce land degradation, thereby limiting productivity. Malawi has shifted from coercion to institutionalized participation of communities through decentralized structures coupled with provision of incentives to lure farmers to adopt sustainable practices, yet natural resource degradation has continued, amid high population growth and climate variability. Approaches taken have been simplistic, ignoring contexts that require concurrent coercive and persuasive approaches. The chapter suggests improvements in mixing approaches and related policies to promote healthy land under agriculture.