Subscribe

Back

Who we are

With research staff from more than 60 countries, and offices across the globe, IFPRI provides research-based policy solutions to sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.

researcher spotlight

Kate Ambler

Kate Amber is a Senior Research Fellow in the Markets, Trade, and Institutions Unit. Kate’s research broadly focuses on interventions that can increase incomes for smallholders and other microenterprises in agrifood value chains, with a specific focus on the inclusion of women. This includes work on programming in fragile settings, innovations in agricultural finance, and regulatory solutions for food safety. 

Where we work

Back

Where we work

IFPRI currently has more than 600 employees working in over 80 countries with a wide range of local, national, and international partners.

IFPRI Regional Programs

IFPRI Country Programs

Research by country and region

Subscribe
The Earth Planet

Malawi

countries and regions

Publications

Resource thumbnail

Report

IFPRI Malawi monthly maize market report, December 2024

2025International Food Policy Research Institute; Banda, Chimwemwe
Details

IFPRI Malawi monthly maize market report, December 2024

Highlights Retail prices of maize increased by 15 percent in December. Maize prices were lowest in the Northern region, where informal imports from Tanzania enter the country, and increased southward. At the market exchange rate, retail prices of maize in Malawi were similar to those in Zambia and lower than in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Year published

2025

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute; Banda, Chimwemwe

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute. 2024. IFPRI Malawi monthly maize market report, December 2024. MaSSP Monthly Maize Market Report December 2024. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/168721

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Maize; Market Prices; Retail Prices; Food Prices

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open Access

Source

Source record

Project

National Policies and Strategies

Record type

Report

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Do youth work in agriculture? Short-term dynamics of on-farm rural youth employment in Tanzania and Malawi

2025Kafle, Kashi; Paliwal, Neha; Benfica, Rui
Details

Do youth work in agriculture? Short-term dynamics of on-farm rural youth employment in Tanzania and Malawi

Year published

2025

Authors

Kafle, Kashi; Paliwal, Neha; Benfica, Rui

Citation

Kafle, Kashi; Paliwal, Neha; and Benfica, Rui. Do youth work in agriculture? Short-term dynamics of on-farm rural youth employment in Tanzania and Malawi. Journal of Development studies. Article in press. First published online on November 14, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2024.2420019

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Tanzania; Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Youth; Agriculture; Youth Employment; Development Policies; Gender; Rural Areas; Rural Employment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Limited Access

Links

https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2024.2420019 Source record

Project

Water, Land and Ecosystems

Record type

Journal Article

Resource thumbnail

Journal Article

Can survey design reduce anchoring bias in recall data? Evidence from smallholder farmers in Malawi

2025Godlonton, Susan; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Paz, Cynthia
Details

Can survey design reduce anchoring bias in recall data? Evidence from smallholder farmers in Malawi

Recall biases in retrospective self-reported survey data have important implications for empirical research. We leverage the survey design literature and test three strategies to attenuate mental anchoring in retrospective data collection: question ordering, retrieval cues and aggregate (community) anchoring. We focus on maize production and happiness reports among smallholder farmers in Malawi. Asking for retrospective before concurrent data on average reduces recall bias (i.e. the deviation of the recalled versus the concurrent outcome reported in the previous period) by 34 per cent for maize production, a meaningful improvement with no increase in data collection costs. Retrieval cues are less successful and community anchors can exacerbate the bias. None of the strategies help to ease the recall bias for happiness reports.

Year published

2025

Authors

Godlonton, Susan; Hernandez, Manuel A.; Paz, Cynthia

Citation

Godlonton, Susan; Hernandez, Manuel A.; and Paz, Cynthia. European Review of Agricultural Economics. Article in Press. First published online on November 6, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbae026

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Eastern Africa; Survey Design; Data Collection; Maize; Smallholders; Agriculture

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbae026 Source record

Record type

Journal Article

Datasets

Dataset

2022 Social Accounting Matrix for Malawi

2024International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

2022 Social Accounting Matrix for Malawi

The 2022 Malawi Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) follows IFPRI’s Standard Nexus SAM approach, by focusing on consistency, comparability, and transparency of data. The Nexus SAMs available on IFPRI’s website separates domestic production into 42 activities. Factors are disaggregated into labor, agricultural land, and capital, with labor further disaggregated across three education-based categories. The household account is divided into 10 representative household groups: Rural and urban households across per capita consumption quintiles. Nexus SAMs support the improvement of model-based research and policy analysis in developing countries and allow for more robust cross-country comparisons of national economic structures, especially agriculture-food systems.

Year published

2024

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2024. 2022 Social Accounting Matrix for Malawi. Washington, DC: IFPRI [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/RX3FYD. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Eastern Africa; Macroeconomic Analysis; National Accounting; Household Consumption; Household Expenditure; Taxes; Economic Indicators; Labour; Sex-disaggregated Data

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/rx3fyd Source record

Project

Foresight

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

Project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for Market Inclusion (Pro-WEAI+MI): Malawi Case Study

2024International Food Policy Research Institute
Details

Project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for Market Inclusion (Pro-WEAI+MI): Malawi Case Study

The project-level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for market inclusion (pro-WEAI+MI) is a modified version of the pro-WEAI that captures empowerment across commodity value chains (VC), VC actors, and beneficiaries of VC/training interventions. This dataset from Malawi is one of four country case studies that developed additional market inclusion (+MI) indicators to complement the pro-WEAI. The Malawi case study was conducted as part of the Agricultural Technical Vocational Education and Training for Women (ATVET4W) Program, a gender-sensitive approach to technical training and market linkages in priority agricultural value chains led by the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). To compare program beneficiaries versus non-beneficiaries, a household survey was collected from September to October 2019 in five districts where ATVET4W has (1) started some activities, (2) shown initial commitment from a community college, and (3) shown a high likelihood to continue with the program. These districts cover different regions (North, Central, South), agroecological zones, and socioeconomic profiles. This data package includes the pro-WEAI+MI questions implemented in Malawi, basic household and demographic information, and constructed pro-WEAI and +MI indicators.

Year published

2024

Authors

International Food Policy Research Institute

Citation

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 2023. Project-Level Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index for Market Inclusion (Pro-weai+MI): Malawi Case Study. Washington, DC: IFPRI [Dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/QQABTY. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Gender; Women; Women’s Empowerment

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/qqabty Source record

Record type

Dataset

Dataset

Implications of Residue Quantity and Quality on Rotational Maize Productivity

2023International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
Details

Implications of Residue Quantity and Quality on Rotational Maize Productivity

Retaining crop residues in fields is a pathway to build soil organic matter (SOM) on smallholder farmers. The quality of crop residues can be improved through integrating more legume residues. This experiment assess the effect of legume residues from a doubled up system as compared to maize residues on rotational maize and N dynamics in the short term. In the long term, this can increase both quantity and quality of SOM.

Year published

2023

Authors

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

Citation

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). 2023. Implications of Residue Quantity and Quality on Rotational Maize Productivity. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) [dataset]. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/UJIPSW. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

Country/Region

Malawi

Keywords

Southern Africa; Sub-saharan Africa; Africa; Crop Residues; Soil Organic Matter; Smallholder Farmers; Legumes; Agricultural Research

Language

English

Access/Licence

Open AccessCC-BY-4.0

Links

https://doi.org/10.7910/dvn/ujipsw Source record

Record type

Dataset

Blogs

Workshop: Assessing on-the-ground impacts of genetic innovation in agriculture
IFPRI Blog
 | 
January 15, 2025

Workshop: Assessing on-the-ground impacts of genetic innovation in agriculture

By Emily Kilonzi, Berber Kramer, and Carly Trachtman

A coordinated multi-country approach.

Borlaug Dialogue side event: Reducing food loss and waste to address climate change in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 26, 2024

Borlaug Dialogue side event: Reducing food loss and waste to address climate change in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia

By Nandita Srivastava

Managing value chains to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

When school overlaps with farming: Measuring reduced educational advancement and simulating solutions in Africa
IFPRI Blog
 | 
December 16, 2024

When school overlaps with farming: Measuring reduced educational advancement and simulating solutions in Africa

By James Allen IV

The social costs of calendars.

View all Blogs

Events

World Food Prize 2024 Borlaug International Dialogue: Side Event on
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

October 22, 2024, 8:30 – 10:00 am

World Food Prize 2024 Borlaug International Dialogue: Side Event on “Reducing the Impact of GHGs Through Managing Food Loss and Waste (FLW): Insights from Bangladesh, Guatemala, Malawi, and Nepal”

October 22, 2024 8:30 – 10:00 am (CDT) 9:30 – 11:00 am (EDT) Register IFPRI is participating in the 2024 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue. This year’s theme, “Seeds of Opportunity: Bridging Generations and Cultivating Diplomacy”, will emphasizes the vital role of integrating past wisdom, current innovations and the pressing needs of tomorrow, by leveraging […]

Metrics Matter: Assessing Progress towards Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture and Beyond
IFPRI at External Event

 | 

August 14, 2024, 9:00 – 11:30 am

Metrics Matter: Assessing Progress towards Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture and Beyond

The Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), in partnership with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), will hold a public seminar featuring three studies on women empowerment on August 14, 2024, 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM (Asia/Manila) / August 13, 2024, 9:00 PM to 11:30 PM (US/Eastern) at the PIDS Conference Hall and via Zoom. […]

How should governments respond to crises? Rapid response using RIAPA modeling system
IFPRI Program/Country Event

 | 

August 13, 2024, 9:30 – 10:30 am

How should governments respond to crises? Rapid response using RIAPA modeling system

IFPRI’s foresight modeling systems cover food, land, and water systems across the world’s poorest and most food insecure geographies. Thanks to longstanding investments in these systems, IFPRI is uniquely positioned to provide rapid analysis of the impacts of global or domestic crises on agrifood systems, poverty, and food security at global, regional, national, or subnational […]

View all Events

News

September 12, 2024 | In the News

Tale of two villages: In Malawi, farmers point the way as drought drives hunger (WFP/AllAfrica/Relief Web)

The WFP story shared by All Africa and Relief Web quotes Jan Duchoslav and Joachim De Weerdt (IFPRI Malawi) on the food security crisis in the country.

June 13, 2024 | Statement

In Memoriam: Hon. Saulos Chilima, Vice President of Malawi

IFPRI extends sincere condolences in relation to the tragic accident that claimed lives of Dr. Chilima and fellow passengers.

July 11, 2023 | Press Release

Women key to crop success in low-income countries

This post is a slightly modified version of the original press release issued by the University of Edinburgh. Empowering women farmers in low and middle-income countries can lead to greater crop diversity helping to improve year-round supply of healthy foods, suggests a new article published in The Lancet Planetary Health by a group of authors including […]

View all News

Projects

Economywide Risk Assessments

Economywide Risk Assessments

Developed using advanced machine learning, simulation, and data mining techniques, these country briefs provide detailed risk assessments of key economic indicators. Produced by IFPRI, the……

Developing Smart Innovations through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) Project

Developing Smart Innovations through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) Project

The Developing Smart Innovations through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) initiative is a five-year agricultural research project funded by the EU. Its main objective is to……

Prioritizing agricultural investments for income, poverty reduction, and nutrition

Prioritizing agricultural investments for income, poverty reduction, and nutrition

…

View all Projects