SG 2000 focused on crop management training courses for field officers, emphasizing on early preparation and optimum planting designs, fertilizer use, weed control and crop protection. The MTP—of maize, which is the major staple food in Malawi, with one of the highest consumption rates in the world—were the tool to train and re-orient farmers, as well as frontline extension staff, subject matter specialists, and researchers through practical, hands-on participation.

When SG 2000 arrived in Malawi, a huge 3-year, food safety-net programme—funded by international donors and the government—was starting. Under the program, Malawi’s 1.8 million farmers were given a free “starter pack” containing, typically, small amounts of maize seed and fertilizer intended for planting one-tenth hectare.
SG 2000 however considered that the starter pack’s implicit recommendations for plant population density and fertilizer application would give inadequate yields. Because most landholdings in Malawi were very small, high maize yields are needed to secure the family supply of its staple food crop, while allowing some land to be devoted to other crops and agricultural activities.

The SG 2000 programme in Malawi built upon excellent recent research and extension work, especially in maize and grain legumes production, and soil fertility restoration and maintenance. Many organizations were involved in the work, including the Malawian national research organization, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), el Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Conservation tillage (CT) technology—to reduce erosion, conserve moisture, and reduce labour requirements—was also a priority. CT training was conducted in each of the five ADD participating in the programme. 70 plots were already established with minimum tillage across the country. Conservation agriculture, which addresses problems of soil fertility and water conservation, is also proving increasingly popular with Malawi’s farmers. Some 150 MTPs were established with average yields ranging from 3.8 to 8.5t/ha. Loan recovery from MTPs set up in 2002/03 has reached around 90%, “an excellent result considering the pressures on farmers” comments Jose Valencia, the country director.

As a result of the nationwide use of fertilizer plus improved seed and sufficient rainfall, the maize harvests in 1999 and 2000 were the largest in Malawi’s history. However, ample supplies severely depressed maize prices, making high-yielding production practices unprofitable for farmers. The improved maize yields are a glimpse of the technological possibilities, but the price declines underscore the urgent need to diversify production and add new crops to the farming systems.

In 2000/2001 season, the project implemented 3,366 maize MTPs in five ADDs.  Demonstration of upland rice, soybean, cowpea and pigeon pea has also been added to the programme.

“All of the pieces are there for a rapid expansion in national food production and a reduction of rural poverty“, says SAA President Norman Borlaug, “what is needed is to put these technological pieces together into a coordinated programme of public, private and NGO co-operation.”

Malawi has a growing private sector, including dynamic private seed and fertilizer enterprises that can do much to support the Government’s smallholders agricultural development programmes, of properly mobilized.

Malawi has moved from being a maize exporter to an importer in a single year. The disappointing 2000/01 season was characterized by flooding and disease problems. As a result, Malawi faced a deficit of around 400,000 tons and serious malnutrition problems in parts of the country. Low grain yields, still obtained by most of Malawi’s small-scale farmers, remain a serious cause of concern.
Again Valencia is specific about the reasons, citing low and improper use of fertilizer and improved seed, the failure of extension to deliver technological messages effectively to farmers, the lack of rural infrastructure to market inputs and outputs at affordable prices, and poor market information systems. As a consequence, “the SG 2000 programme has not yet achieved the impact on adoption that it could and should”.

During the 2001/02 season, SG 2000 intends to become more active in the post harvest technology issues. SG 2000 farmers are losing up to 30% of the grain harvested, with much of this loss due to the larger grain borer. SG 2000 will be promoting crop protection measures to control this devastating insect pest. Unstable markets conditions have already driven large-scale farmers out of maize production. The season, with its large maize production deficits, gave farmers employing conservation tillage technology with very high profits.

Farmers were enthusiastic about the impact of conservation tillage given the labour-saving benefit and improvements in soil fertility. Some 166 conservation tillage plots have been established in the 2002/03 season.
“When hybrid seed and fertilizer become affordable and accessible to farmers; their aspirations and those of the country will be met on considerably less land and area, thus freeing up land for other crops.”

“Unstable markets and unstable prices will continue to contribute to as scarcity of maize in Malawi”, says Valencia. “Many farmers have been storing their harvest in their local granaries expecting to get better prices, only to find that donors are distributing their own reserves of maize, decreasing prices still further. At the end of the day, the farmers are the losers—and many were not prepared to invest in the necessary inputs for the 2003/04 season.”

The project in Malawi ended in late 2006, on the decision of SAA Board of Directors.