1. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Sustainable Intensification: A New Paradigm
for African Agriculture – Experiences of
Smallholder Farmers
Presentation at a Side Event during FARA Science Week and General Assembly
to be held in Accra, Ghana – July 15-20, 2013
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Dyborn Chibonga
NASFAM
Chief Executive Officer

2. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
‘If agriculture has a final frontier, it is Africa. After
agriculture transformations in Asia and Latin America
since the 1960s, Africa remains the one place where
the farming potential has barely been scratched. African
agriculture has less irrigation, less fertilizer use, less
soil and seed research, less mechanization, less rural
financing, fewer paved farm-to-market roads than any
other farming region in the world.’
Roger Thurow, Wall Street Journal, 27 May 2008
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3. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Working in Farmer Organized Groups:
Strategic Direction for Smallholder Farmers
• Smallholder farmers need urgent support for them to
work in organized groups so they can produce enough
food for their families and extra for their national
economies.
• These may take the form of farmer clubs, associations,
and cooperatives, depending on their needs and local
realities.
• Such an approach will help them to sustainably
integrate in various food and feed value chains.
• A case in point is the National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi (NASFAM).
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4. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
• NASFAM has formed farmer clubs to achieve
commercially viable economies of scale and the
collective power of voice.
• Clubs have integrated to form farmer owned
“Associations”, which are better placed to represent the
clubs and provide larger-scale marketing and business
support to develop smallholder farming as a business.
• The Associations legally registered as NASFAM under
the Trustees Incorporation Act in 1998.
• Currently, NASFAM has mobilised 45 Associations in
19 Districts with 108,000 farmer members.
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5. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
• NASFAM believes that “the future
belongs to the organised.”
• When working in organised groups,
smallholder farmers can effectively
participate in sustainably intensified
agriculture.
• There is a lot of merit in the collective
approach as opposed to individualism.
• Organised farmers form a social network,
enjoy economies of scale and speak with
one voice to defend their interests in the
food and feed value chains.
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Merits of Working in Organised Groups

6. 6
Strategic Programme Interventions for Sustainable
Intensification
Crop Production and MarketingCrop Production and Marketing Farm Input Access
Capacity Building
Policy and Advocacy
Food & Nutrition Security
HIV/Aids & Gender IntegrationHIV/Aids & Gender Integration
Information and CommunicationInformation and Communication
Rural Infrastructure DevelopmentRural Infrastructure Development
Adult Literacy/Numeracy
Linkages to Service Providers
Conservation AgricultureConservation Agriculture
Governance Leadership and Democratic Institutions
Monitoring Evaluation &
Communication
Value Added Processing

7. National Smallholder Farmers’
Association of Malawi
Conclusion
• Agriculture is the main occupation of the majority of
Africa’s population.
• Smallholder farmers represent a vast powerhouse that
needs to be supported to realize its potential for
sustainable intensification
• Organised farmers can be mobilized to address
challenges of modern agriculture and treat farming as
business in order to take part in agriculture food and feed
value chains.
• Africa is the last frontier of the 21st
Century in which its
vast resources and people can be harnessed to produce
enough quantities and quality required to feed a growing
world population.
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8. Thank You
Zikomo!www.nasfam.org
““The future belongs to the organized”The future belongs to the organized”