Unraveling the effect of targeted input subsidies on dietary diversity in household consumption and child nutrition: The case of Malawi

Coping with negative shocks and the role of the farm input subsidy programme in rural Malawi

“…Malawi's FISP is an offshoot of the Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme, a smallscale targeted input subsidy programme popularly referred to as the Starter Pack Scheme which was initiated in 1998. The FISP became popular in 2005 after a severe drought in the country that led to the programme being augmented from only a few farmers to about 50 per cent of the country's farmers, and to over 70 per cent of farmers in recent years (Harou, 2018).…”

“…The objective of the programme is to give farmers access to improved agricultural inputs which can bring about food self-sufficiency and enhance rural income via higher levels of food and cash crop production Lunduka et al, 2013), by handing out vouchers and coupons to smallholder farmers who own their farmlands and reside legitimately in their own villages, for the purchase of farm inputs 4 at subsidised rates (Chibwana and Fisher, 2011;Harou, 2018).…”

“…Existing studies show that since the implementation of the FISP, there has been improvement in agricultural output among smallholder farmers, such that maize increased from a 43 per cent deficit in 2005 to a 53 per cent surplus by 2007 (Chibwana and Fisher, 2011;Harou, 2018). However, due to the declining food insecurity levels in Malawi, from about 57 per cent in 2004/05 to 42 per cent in 2010/11 (Government of Malawi, 2005Sibande et al, 2015), and the enormity of the FISP, 5 there has been criticism with regard to beneficiaries of the FISP adopting poor climate-resilient farming systems such as unsustainable land management practices and poor crop diversification strategies (see Zulu, 2017).…”

“…3 This study is related to a growing literature on the moderating role of agricultural interventions on the effects of weather variability on smallholder households. A few studies such as Kaiyatsa et al (2019), Harou (2018), and Karamba and Winters (2015) have examined the effects of the FISP on households' outcomes. However, our study differs from the existing literature as it focuses on the mitigating role of agricultural policy such as the FISP on weather shocks and households' outcomes.…”

Dietary change, noncommunicable disease and local knowledge: results of a small-scale study of the views of older Malawians

“…However, even diets that appear relatively unchanged from thirty or forty years ago, may have undergone significant alterations – for example through the adoption of new varieties of staple crops such as maize and cassava, and new methods of preparation. In Malawi, as elsewhere, there is growing concern that diets are becoming less diverse, leading to micronutrient deficiencies, and as such a high proportion of the population is engaged in agricultural production for subsistence, it seems imperative that there is an articulation between agricultural policy (sometimes accused of encouraging monocropping) and nutrition policy which stresses the importance of diversity ( Bezner Kerr, 2013; Gronemeyer et al ., 2015; Haron, 2018; Jones et al ., 2014; Kankwamba et al ., 2018; Koppmair et al ., 2017; Patel et al ., 2014).…”