As countries of sub-Saharan Africa expand irrigation to improve food security and foster economic growth, it is important to quantify the malaria risk associated with this process. Irrigated ecosystems can be associated with increased malaria risk, but this relationship is not fully understood. We studied this relationship at the Bwanje Valley Irrigation Scheme (800 hectares) in Malawi. Household prevalence of malaria and indoor Anopheles density were quantified in two cross-sectional studies in 2016 and 2017 (5,829 residents of 1,091 households). Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate the association between distance to the irrigation scheme and malaria infection and mosquito density. The prevalence of malaria infection was 50.2% (2,765/5,511) by histidine-rich protein 2–based malaria rapid diagnostic tests and 30.1% (1,626/5,403) by microscopy. Individuals residing in households within 3 km of the scheme had significantly higher prevalence of infection (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.41; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.18, 1.68); school-aged children had the highest prevalence among age groups (aOR = 1.34; 95% CI 1.11, 1.63). Individuals who reported bed net use, and households with higher socioeconomic status and higher level of education for household head or spouse, had lower odds of malaria infection. Female Anopheles mosquitoes (2,215 total; Anopheles arabiensis, 90.5%, Anopheles funestus, 9.5%) were significantly more abundant in houses located within 1.5 km of the scheme. Proximity of human dwellings to the irrigation scheme increased malaria risk, but higher household wealth index reduced risk. Therefore, multisectoral approaches that spur economic growth while mitigating increased malaria transmission are needed for people living close to irrigated sites.

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Globally, governments and agricultural organizations implement policies and programs reflected in interventions such as input subsidies, extension services for modern inputs and training, which either enable or hinder agricultural diversification. A study was carried out from 2016 to 2019 in Lilongwe district, Malawi, to determine the influence of policies, programs and interventions on agricultural diversification. The study was using a mixed-method sequential explanatory design. It involved a literature review, interviews with 424 male and female smallholder farmers, 35 demonstration plots on agricultural diversification, 27 focus group discussions with farmers, and 17 key informant interviews with stakeholder representatives. The literature review showed that the 2016 Malawi agricultural policy already prioritized agricultural diversification as it included a policy statement and policy objective on agricultural diversification. This study found that stakeholders, namely the Ministry of Agriculture, Total Land Care, National Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi, School of Agriculture for Family Independence, and Trustees of Agriculture Promotion Program, were promoting agricultural diversification. They did it by (i) organizing farmers into groups for agricultural diversification activities, (ii) provision of extension advice, and (iii) providing inputs for different crops as well as livestock either for free, on pass-on, or through loans. However, interventions were on small scale, had not fully addressed hindrances to agricultural diversification, were mostly supply-driven, and the interventions themselves faced sustainability-threatening problems such as failure to pass on livestock and seeds. The agricultural policy was thus not sufficiently translated into widespread programs and interventions to foster improvement in agricultural diversification. As such, we suggest re-channeling of funding from promoting mono-cropping to agricultural diversification by broadening the crop and livestock focus of advisory services, enabling farmer organization initiatives and community engagement for farmers to solve most diversification challenges on their own.

The use of contract farming, which constitutes a subject of current debates, especially on the issue of whether or not participating farmers improve their welfare and thus contribute to the local economy as an agricultural intervention is being adopted by many African countries including Mozambique. The Mozambique government adopted contract farming which is being implemented in the central region, mainly involving production of cash crops (Tobacco, cotton and sugarcane) using smallholder farmers. To this end, this study was carried out to assess the effect of contract tobacco farming on the welfare of smallholder farmers in the district of Angonia in Mozambique. Data were collected using questionnaire from 359 randomly selected farmers. Checklists with 27 focus group discussions, 67 key informants' interviews were also used. The results show that some farmers are able to improve their welfare as a result of their participation in contract farming. Although farmers are motivated by income generation, the contractor offers low prices which result in low returns and debts accumulation by farmers. Considering these, the study concludes that contract tobacco farming is dysfunctional, as it fails to improve the welfare of farmers. The findings of this study offer guidance on how contract farming should be organised so that both parties involved in contract can benefit and improve the chance of a win-win situation. The study further generates useful information that evaluates the subsector in terms of its contributions to the local economy.

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