Document information
| Land reform and poverty reduction in Malawi |
| Mapopo Moyo, Collins |
| Event: Decision Makers Meeting on Good Administration of Land in Africa : Land Administration for Poverty Reduction and Economic Growth |
| Poverty in Malawi is deep, severe and pervasive, where more than 52% of the population live below the poverty line (IHS 2005). The majority of these are rural based and are largely dependent on agriculture, and therefore on land, for their livelihood. Considering the fact that inadequate access to land is a critical contributing factor to food security and poverty in the country, there is economic sense in handling land issues as a pre-requisite for sustainable pro-poor growth. Malawi continues to heavily depend on agriculture, and therefore on land, for the growth of the economy and sustenance peoplees livelihoods. This is particularly true for smallholder agriculture which contributes the largest proportion (more than 80%) of agricultural production. Agriculture alone accounts for more than 35% of the countryys Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 90% of export earnings. Smallholder agriculture dominates the sector and employs more than 80% of the rural labour force. Smallholder agriculture alone contributes about 30% of GDP, which means that increasing smallholder agricultural productivity is key to rapid and sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction for Malawi. However, smallholder agricultural productivity is still low and hampered by, among other things, poor access to factors of production, especially land and capital. |
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