2. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Presentation Outline
• Brief Introduction
• Groundnut Value Chain Actors
• Opportunities and Challenges
• Current research efforts
• Recommendations
3. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Introduction
• Key legume crop grown by SHF
• Multiple Uses
– Nitrogen fixing
– Nutritional
– Vegetable oil
– Shells-briquettes
7. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Production Challenges
• Erratic rainfall and dry spells
• Limited/poor access to quality seed
• Poor crop husbandry practices
• Pest and diseases
8. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Production Challenges
A farmer planting 10kg of certified seed should yield at least 90kg of high quality grain (and quite
possibly more), whereas the same farmer planting 10kg of recycled grain might yield as little as 18kg
of grain, of poorer quality.
9. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Post Harvesting Challenges
• Harvesting methodologies
• Hand shelling
• Storage facilities - increases chances of post
harvest losses from pest and disease
• Post harvest handling farmer education
10. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Marketing Constraints
• Poor marketing arrangements
• Poor road and market infrastructure
• Poor quality- low incomes
• Undefined/ non-adherence to standards
• Regulatory framework
• Poor linkages amongst VC actors
11. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Processing constraints
• Little value addition amongst the processors
• High maintenance cost for groundnut processing
equipment
• Groundnut produces less oil compared to other
legumes such as soya beans and therefore is not
attractive for processors to produce oil.
• High levels of aflatoxin affects the market for the
groundnut seed cake which is used as feed for
livestock
12. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Financing constraints
• Limited credit financing
• High interest rates
• SHF limited access to financial services
• Weather risk insurance issues-
uncertainty of production
13. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Policy related constraints
• Uncoordinated policies
• Price controls
• FISP programmes- market distortion
• Certification challenges
• Poor agro-dealer network in rural areas
• Poor private sector participation
14. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Opportunities
• Political will: ASWAp; Crop Diversification
Strategy; Export Diversification Strategy
• Seed systems development – research-
FO linkages
• Legumes Platform
• Challenges in tobacco
• Domestic, Regional market
• Agro-processing
16. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Some of the Current research
effortsResearch topic Researchers
Mapping the Path of Peanut in Malawi Miriam Rich, Office of International Research,
Education and Education of Blasburg, Virginia
Technical efficiency in groundnut production
in Malawi: An application of a frontier
production function
A. K Edriss and F. Simtowe, Bunda, College of
Agriculture, Malawi
Assessing Adoption Potential of
New Groundnut Varieties in Malawi
H A Freeman, P J A van der Merwe, P
Subrahmanyam, A J Chiyembekeza, and W
Kaguongo, ICRISAT, Malawi
Economic Analysis of Groundnut
Production in Kasungu District, Malawi:
A production Economics Approach
Vincent Kapopo and Maganga Assa, University of
Malawi
Assessing the Competitiveness of Groundnut
Production in Malawi: A Policy Analysis Matrix
Approach
Abiba Longwe-Ngwira , Franklin Simtowe, and
Moses Siambi, Radboud University Nijmegen, The
Netherlands; Alliance for Green Revolution in
Africa (AGRA), Kenya; and The International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT), Malawi
17. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Possible Research Questions
• What is the economic value of Value addition
and reduction of post harvest losses in
groundnuts
• To what extent can collaborative partnerships
help to control aflatoxin levels in the Malawi
groundnuts
• What are the optimal input levels for
groundnuts for maximizing gross margins
18. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Possible Research Questions
• Mobilization of farmers operating individually into
groups for collective action
• Developing regulatory mechanisms for small scale
buyers, especially in light of the fact that these buyers
are known to be exploitative.
• Supporting the efforts of smallholder farmers to enable
them benefit from their linkages with various market
scenarios and players in the value chains
• Assess the effect/impact of the current agricultural
policy environment in Malawi on smallholder farmers
production, processing and marketing of groundnuts
19. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Possible Research Questions
• What could be done to improve access to the knowledge on
approaches and options for expanding groundnuts marketing
for smallholder farmers in the country – lessons from the
region
• Logistical challenges in the groundnut value chain in Malawi
• Identifying possible areas of intervention or investment in the
value chain that would give the industry the biggest boost
• Cost benefit analysis of smallholder groundnut farming in
Malawi
20. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Possible Research Questions
• What are the impacts of the institutional reforms and
the participation of smallholder farmers in the
groundnuts value chain
• How growth in production can be increased through
increasing yields and disease and pest control
• How to improve groundnuts marketing and technical
information flow to smallholder farmers
• To conduct adaptive research on technologies and
adoption potential of smallholder farmers for
improved groundnuts value addition
