March 14th, 2013

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved, on March 13, 2013, grants and loans amounting to US $73 million to finance irrigation and road rehabilitation projects in Malawi.

The grants, totalling US $39.98 million from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and the African Development Fund (ADF), will be used to finance the Smallholder Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP). A total of US $39.6 million will come from the GAFSP Multi-Donor Trust Fund, while the ADF will provide a grant of US $0.38 million.

The project aims is to contribute to food security, increased income levels and…

Malnutrition in Malawi: is permaculture the solution?

Malawi’s dependence on maize has led to malnutrition, will encouraging permaculture help Malawians increase their intake of micronutrients?

As the third highest per capita consumers of maize in the world, Malawi’s dependence on a grain with high energy content but low protein, fat, and micronutrient quality has led to sustained issues of malnutrition. Despite recent praise of Malawi’s efforts to end hunger from the head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation…