Brief

Agriculture and Social Protection in Malawi: Fertiliser Policies and Politics

Abstract

Agricultural and social protection policies must be understood in the context of political agendas, market development and trends in rural livelihoods. This Briefing Paper reviews interactions between agricultural and social protection policies in Malawi – classified as social protection from, independent of, for, through and with agriculture – and their impacts on livelihoods and welfare. Specific attention is given to the evolution of input subsidy policies (i.e. 'fertiliser politics'). This Briefing Paper was written as a summary of 'Social Protection and Agriculture in Malawi', country case study paper prepared for a review commissioned by the FAO on 'Social Protection and Support to Small Farmer Development', by Andrew Dorward, Bruce Guenther and Rachel Sabates-Wheeler (January 2008). The Malawi case study is published by the Future Agricultures Consortium as Growth & Social Protection Working Paper 02