IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wodepe/v9y2018icp12-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The evolution of agricultural input subsidy programs: contextualizing policy debates in Malawi’s FISP

Author

Listed:
  • Nkhoma, Peter R.

Abstract

Malawi has been associated with the re-emergence of agricultural input subsidy programs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) since its launching of the Farm Inputs Subsidy Program (FISP) in 2005. It has also been at the center of policy debates regarding its capacity to launch a uniquely African Green Revolution within a marketized and capitalist configuration, and in a context of constrained public resources. Such debates have been informed by the evidentiary literature, which has been mixed and sharply divided. This paper, using qualitative methods, explores how such debates have shaped Malawi’s food security policies and brought about recent alignment in government and donor policy positions. The results indicate that the recent change in FISP policy is intimately linked to wider concerns to commercialize agriculture and the general reconfiguration of food security policy to more accurately reflect presumed ‘possibilities’ and what is fiscally pragmatic. The paper highlights some of the complexities that have been faced by policy makers in the process of devising appropriate pro-poor agricultural and food security policies within the broader enterprise of economic growth in a rather challenging context. It contributes to scholarly efforts to untangle Malawi’s food security-development policy paradox™ which might be relevant to other countries in SSA.

Suggested Citation

  • Nkhoma, Peter R., 2018. "The evolution of agricultural input subsidy programs: contextualizing policy debates in Malawi’s FISP," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 9(C), pages 12-17.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:9:y:2018:i:c:p:12-17
    DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2017.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292917300474
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.wdp.2017.12.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blessings Chinsinga & Colin Poulton, 2014. "Beyond Technocratic Debates: The Significance and Transience of Political Incentives in the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP)," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(s2), pages 123-150, September.
    2. Carr, Stephen, 2014. "The challenge of Africa’s nitrogen drought: Some indicators from the Malawian experience:," MaSSP policy notes 19, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Harrigan, Jane, 2008. "Food insecurity, poverty and the Malawian Starter Pack: Fresh start or false start?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 237-249, June.
    4. Chirwa, Ephraim & Dorward, Andrew, 2013. "Agricultural Input Subsidies: The Recent Malawi Experience," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199683529.
    5. Harrigan, Jane, 2003. "U-Turns and Full Circles: Two Decades of Agricultural Reform in Malawi 1981-2000," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 847-863, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Emmanuel Junior Zuza & Kadmiel Maseyk & Shonil Bhagwat & Andrew Emmott & Will Rawes & Yoseph Negusse Araya, 2021. "Review of Macadamia Production in Malawi: Focusing on What, Where, How Much Is Produced and Major Constraints," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-19, February.
    2. Oleg V. Zakharchenko & Olena O. Alieksieichuk & Alena V. Kliuchnyk & Alena V. Kliuchnyk & Nataliya Yu. Shyriaieva & Іrina V. Kudlai, 2020. "State support of agricultural producers as a factor in increasing the competitiveness of the agricultural sector," Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, VsI Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, vol. 8(1), pages 687-704, September.
    3. Helen Walls & Deborah Johnston & Mirriam Matita & Ephraim Chirwa & Jacob Mazalale & Matthew Quaife & Tayamika Kamwanja & Richard Smith, 2023. "How effectively might agricultural input subsidies improve nutrition? A case study of Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP)," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(1), pages 21-39, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jayne, T.S. & Mason, Nicole M. & Burke, William J. & Ariga, Joshua, 2016. "Agricultural Input Subsidy Programs In Africa: An Assessment Of Recent Evidence," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 259509, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    2. Nyantakyi-Frimpong, Hanson & Mambulu, Faith Nankasa & Bezner Kerr, Rachel & Luginaah, Isaac & Lupafya, Esther, 2016. "Agroecology and sustainable food systems: Participatory research to improve food security among HIV-affected households in northern Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 89-99.
    3. Matita, Mirriam & Chiwaula, Levison & Wadonda Chirwa, Ephraim & Mazalale, Jacob & Walls, Helen, 2022. "Subsidizing improved legume seeds for increased household dietary diversity: Evidence from Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme with implications for addressing malnutrition in all its forms," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    4. Makoza, Frank, 2024. "The effect of mobile network quality on use of mobile application in Affordable Inputs Program of Malawi," EconStor Preprints 302572, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    5. Dionne, Kim Yi & Horowitz, Jeremy, 2016. "The Political Effects of Agricultural Subsidies in Africa: Evidence from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 215-226.
    6. Asfaw, Solomon & Carraro, Alessandro, 2016. "Welfare Effect of Farm Input Subsidy Program in the Context of Climate Change: Evidence from Malawi," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246281, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    7. Skjeflo , Sofie Waage & Holden , Stein, 2014. "Economy-wide effects of input subsidies in Malawi: Market imperfections and household heterogeneity," CLTS Working Papers 7/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    8. Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Lunduka, Rodney & Shively, Gerald & Jayne, Thom, 2014. "Improving the Effectiveness of Malawi’s FISP," Food Security Collaborative Policy Briefs 234944, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    9. Helen Walls & Deborah Johnston & Mirriam Matita & Ephraim Chirwa & Jacob Mazalale & Matthew Quaife & Tayamika Kamwanja & Richard Smith, 2023. "How effectively might agricultural input subsidies improve nutrition? A case study of Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP)," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(1), pages 21-39, February.
    10. Houssou, Nazaire & Andam, Kwaw S. & Collins, Asante-Addo, 2017. "Can better targeting improve the effectiveness of Ghana's Fertilizer Subsidy Program? Lessons from Ghana and other countries in Africa south of the Sahara," IFPRI discussion papers 1605, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Ecker, Olivier & Qaim, Matin, 2011. "Analyzing Nutritional Impacts of Policies: An Empirical Study for Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 412-428, March.
    12. Katengeza, Samson P. & Holden, Stein T. & Fisher, Monica, 2019. "Use of Integrated Soil Fertility Management Technologies in Malawi: Impact of Dry Spells Exposure," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 134-152.
    13. Holden, Stein T., 2018. "The Economics of Fertilizer Subsidies," CLTS Working Papers 9/18, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    14. Jayne, Thomas S. & Mason, Nicole M. & Burke, William J. & Ariga, Joshua, 2018. "Review: Taking stock of Africa’s second-generation agricultural input subsidy programs," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1-14.
    15. William J. Burke & Sieglinde S. Snapp & Thom S. Jayne, 2020. "An in‐depth examination of maize yield response to fertilizer in Central Malawi reveals low profits and too many weeds," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(6), pages 923-940, November.
    16. Astrid Mathiassen & Bjørn K. Wold, 2019. "Challenges in predicting poverty trends using survey to survey imputation. Experiences from Malawi," Discussion Papers 900, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    17. Wood, Benjamin & Nelson, Carl H. & Kilic, Talip & Murray, Siobhan, 2012. "Up in Smoke?: Agricultural Commercialization,Rising Food Prices and Stunting in Malawi," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 131261, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Raymond Boadi Frempong, 2023. "Do subsidies on seed and fertilizer lead to child labour? Evidence from Malawi," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 41(2), March.
    19. Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Laura Deotti & Maria Sassi, "undated". "Food Price Volatility over the Last Decade in Niger and Malawi: Extent, Sources and Impact on Child Malnutrition," UNDP Africa Policy Notes 2012-002, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa.
    20. Sylvester Amoako Agyemang & Tomáš Ratinger & Miroslava Bavorová, 2022. "The Impact of Agricultural Input Subsidy on Productivity: The Case of Ghana," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(3), pages 1460-1485, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:9:y:2018:i:c:p:12-17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development-perspectives .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.