Status of Agricultural Innovations, Innovation Platforms and Innovations Investment in Malawi

In Malawi, FARA involved the Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS) that engaged an external consultant to undertake the following studies: 1. A situation analysis of agricultural innovations; 2 Programme for Accompanying Research in Innovations (PARI); 2. A scoping study of existing agricultural innovation platforms; 3. A study on National and international investment initiatives on innovation for agricultural development and food and nutrition security.

This study tries to answer the following questions: 1. What has been happening with agricultural innovations in Malawi? 2. Have innovations reached the intended users – women farmers, rural smallholders, etc? 3. Has there been any deliberate investment or policies to promote agricultural innovations? If not, why and if yes, in what contexts and how has Malawian agriculture profited from such investments – why do we still have food shortages?