Farm Produce Marketing

Guide to Good Agriculture Practices in MalawiiFOREWORDThe government of Malawi recognizes the importance of using well researched and vetted Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) in promoting sustainable agricultural production in the country to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. The Sustainable Agricultural Production Programme (SAPP), one of the initiatives that Government of Malawi (GoM) has putin place to address some of the problems that smallholder farmers face in their production activitiesis contributing to poverty reduction and improved food security among rural populations through achieving a viable and sustainable smallholder agricultural sector employing good agricultural practices (GAPs) in Malawi. The program is being implemented in 6 districts of Chitipa, Nkhotakota, Lilongwe, Balaka, Chiradzulu and Blantyre. The government of Malawi, through SAPP noted the shortfalls in the implementation of the GAPs and commissioned a synthesis of the research findings in Malawi and the region to inform on the GAPs which are ready to go and where best fit to advise the extension and technical person and their applicability. The exercise developed user friendly tools which can be used by the extension personnel in advising the most befitting GAPs in their areas of operations. TheMinistry of Agriculture,Water and Irrigation Developmentis committed to support all the stakeholders supporting agricultural production in the country to adoptthe application of the tools developed.

In this second edition of the Sustainable Agriculture Production Program (SAPP) Success Stories, we present achievements of smallholder farmers who have adopted various sustainable good agriculture practices with the support from SAPP.SAPP is being implemented in six districts in Malawi namely; Blantyre, Chiradzulu, Balaka, Lilongwe, Nkhotakota and Chitipa. In all those districts the programme has made significant differences in farmer’s lives in the areas of farmer adoption of sustainable good agriculture practices as well as in adaptive research and seed certification.In this second edition, you will get a picture of how farmer’s lives have changed since the introduction of the programme. Topical areas that have been covered include; seed multiplication of ground nuts, chicken production, agribusiness and nutrition, rocket stoves, conservation agriculture, other farming technologies and crop diversification.We hope our selection of success stories will inspire you to adopt and practice sustainable good agriculture practices which will in turn improve the country’s economic growth.

Pesticides are essential for the control of infestation of disease, insect pests and weeds on different crops. Due to wide usage of synthetic pesticides which may lead to increased exposure and associated environmental and health risks among small-holder farmers in Zambia, a study was undertaken to understand how knowledgeable farmers are on pesticide use and practices. A total of 418 small scale farmers were randomly sampled from Mkushi, Mpongwe, Luangwa, Mbala, Solwezi, Chipata and Kalomo Districts of Zambia. Data pertaining to types of pesticides use, handling, storage and disposal was solicited using structured questionnaires. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS. Findings revealed that of the sampled farmers 43%, 30%, 25% and 17% used Glyphosate, Dicamba, Paraquat and Atrazine respectively as herbicides in Maize. 21% and 14% used Cypermethrine and Monocrotophos respectively as insecticides in both Maize and Soybean. 81% of the sampled farmers used empty containers for either storing drinking water or salt while only 15% wore protective clothing when applying pesticides. Pesticide mishandling occurred regardless of the amount of experience a farmer had using pesticides. 68% of the sampled farmers had never received any formal basic training in pestic ide use, hence a clear knowledge gap. The fact that receipt of basic training was the main predictor of a farmers’ level of knowledge on pesticide use, a farmer who had received basic training in appropriate chemical pesticides use, as opposed to one who had not, had a better chance of using chemical pesticides safely and in the right quantities.

The term vulnerable has become both a noun and verb, and now overshadows the significance of the term, vulnerabilities. For some time now, the term vulnerable has been used to refer to almost everything, yet vulnerabilities refer to the inability to withstand the effects of the hostile environment, while vulnerable refers to the possibility of being attacked, harmed – either physically or emotionally.

This poster highlights the impact of APPSA in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique with support from the World Bank

This poster highlights the crop varieties which APPSA has released in Mozambique with support from the World Bank

The poster identifies constraints that affect livestock production in Omusati, in order to inform the development of remedial actions

Climate change, especially prolonged drought events, reduce the availability of feed and water for livestock. This Decision Tool aims to help field level extension staff make climate smart decisions on which diet management option best suits their farmers’ context. This tool is not designed as a technical guide to implementation. It is designed to assist extension staff in making climate smart decisions on improvements to their farming systems with their farmers as clients. Reference to technical guides relevant to the practices and technologies outlined are included at the end of the tool. The tool focuses on some of the Best Bet Climate Smart Diet Management Options for Livestock production in the southern African development community (SADC) region

This Decision Tool aims to help field level extension staff make climate smart decisions on which agroforestry option best suits their farmers’ context. This tool is not designed as a technical guide to implementation. It is designed to assist extension staff in making climate smart decisions on improvements to their farming systems with their clients/farmers. Reference to technical guides relevant to the practices/technologies outlined are included at the end of the tool. The tool focuses on some of the Best Bet Climate Smart Agroforestry Options for rice, maize, and sorghum production in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

This Decision Tool aims to help field level extension staff make climate smart decisions on which agroforestry option best suits their farmers’ context. This tool is not designed as a technical guide to implementation. It is designed to assist extension staff in making climate smart decisions on improvements to their farming systems with their clients/farmers. Reference to technical guides relevant to the practices/technologies outlined are included at the end of the tool. The tool focuses on some of the Best Bet Climate Smart Agroforestry Options for rice, maize, and sorghum production in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.