April 29, 2021 | Malawi
A team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference online to discuss how to improve gender equity through better targeting of Malawi’s farm input subsidies.
April 29, 2021 – A team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference online to share their recommendations for improving gender equality through changes to Malawi's agricultural subsidies.
The team brought together around 30 policy stakeholders and advisors, academics, and representatives of civil society and non-profit organisations. Attendees included representatives of and advisors to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development (MoFEPD), Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Gender Community Development and Social welfare, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Department of Agriculture Extension Services.
The PEP team presented findings and recommendations from their PEP project that investigated The unintended consequences of the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) on women's agency. See PEP Policy Brief 234 for policy analysis and recommendations.
Team member, Martin Mwale (pictured) presented the team’s findings that while Malawi’s FISP subsidies do increase household agricultural production, the welfare benefits mainly go to men and exacerbate gender inequalities. The team proposed changes to the current subsidies to target the person cultivating the land (often women) rather than the household head (most often men).
Main outcomes
The audience response was very positive, with policy participants keen to comment and find out more about how to operationalise the team’s recommendations. There was much discussion about how to use biometric verification to improve targeting to women.
In particular, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at MoFEPD expressed her interest in how the effects of subsidies on productivity varied by population groups, and in learning more about how to factor this into decision-making.
Additionally, although unable to attend, the Director of Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture heard about the event and requested the team’s policy and research papers to share with the Ministry’s policy team.
The team also shared their findings and recommendations in an article on The Conversation, an international news outlet.
The research team organized the event with financial and advisory support from PEP.
