Food Security Policy of Malawi

The Constitution of Malawi recognises that access to and utilisation of nutritionally adequate and safe food in the right quantities is a right of each individual. This will enable them to lead an active and healthy life.

Improving the living standards of the people of the country has for a long time been an immediate need. Building on the Vision 2020, the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) is centered on achieving strong and sustainable economic growth, building a healthy and educated human resource base, and protecting and empowering the vulnerable. It seeks to ensure economic growth, economic empowerment and food security
so that Malawians are less vulnerable to economic shocks. The MGDS also aims at putting in place measures to protect those who temporarily fall into poverty through measures to increase assets for the poor1.

The Integrated Household Survey of 1997/98 indicates that approximately 65.3% of the population is poor and cannot meet their food requirements and basic non-food needs annually.

Many factors interact to create a food insecure situation in Malawi: chronic poverty, low agricultural productivity, poor infrastructure, ecological constraints, inappropriate economic policies, limited arable land other demographic and social factors. These are not discrete, independent factors, but related elements of the food security-malnutrition equation. However, it is widely accepted that the primary cause of food insecurity and malnutrition in Malawi is chronic poverty: the persistent lack of economic opportunity either to produce adequate safe and nutritious food or to exchange labour for the income to purchase
adequate, safe and nutritious food.