Quarterly Report: New Alliance Policy Acceleration Support: Malawi (NAPAS: Malawi) Activity

The activity is being implemented by Michigan State University (MSU) in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the University of Pretoria (UP). NAPAS aims to enable the Government of Malawi to implement the policy reforms agenda it committed to under the New Alliance Country Cooperation Framework for Malawi. The project has three principal objectives: to provide effective technical support for policy formulation, to engage in effective policy communication, and to ensure that gaps in expertise constraining effective agricultural policy reform are filled. The NAPAS team worked closely with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development (MoAIWD) to draft evidence-informed policy and program design documents for consideration by senior government officials and stakeholders in agriculture and food security policy processes. During the reporting period of January 1, 2016 to March 31, 2016, the NAPAS team focused on supporting the Department of Agricultural Planning Services in the MoAIWD with developing a concept note on irrigation for intensified food production. The team also engaged with private companies that were being surveyed as part of a related study on constraints to commercial investments in agriculture. The NAPAS team was asked to provide technical support to the Sustainable Economic Growth (SEG) office of USAID/Malawi, which had been asked by the US Ambassador to provide technical input on breaking the cycle of food insecurity in Malawi. The NAPAS team also worked on accelerating the processes necessary for finalizing the adoption of the National Agriculture Policy (NAP) and the Contract Farming Strategy (CFS). Both documents have already been validated and are undergoing internal government processes prior to being endorsed and adopted by senior government leadership in the Government of Malawi. The NAPAS team drafted a cabinet paper in January, which requested the cabinet of the Government of Malawi to consider endorsing and adopting the NAP as national policy. The team also worked closely with the Department of Agricultural Extension Services (DAES) to move the process of reviewing the Agricultural Extension Policy forward. The COP attended and presented at a meeting of various departments at national, ADD, and district levels in the MoAIWD to deliberate issues in agricultural extension. The COP held meetings with the COP and the Nutrition Education Specialist on the new USAID/Malawi-funded activity on extension, the Strengthening Agriculture and Nutrition Extension Services Activity (SANESA). The two activities have agreed to collaborate in helping DAES in three areas: review of the Extension Policy, development of a new extension strategy, and development of an Agriculture-Nutrition strategy. The NAPAS team also engaged with the ASWAp-SP secretariat to discuss how the work on reviewing the Extension Policy would be accelerated since the ASWAp-SP has funded the hiring of a consultant who will work on the policy review. The consultant is expected to provide technical support to the DAES in reviewing the policy. The NAPAS team is working closely with the DAES to ensure that the policy review is completed on time and that the policy is adopted by the Government of Malawi. The project has made significant progress in achieving its objectives, particularly in providing technical support to the Government of Malawi in policy formulation and implementation. The NAPAS team has worked closely with the MoAIWD and other stakeholders to draft policy and program design documents, engage in policy communication, and ensure that gaps in expertise are filled. The project has also made progress in reviewing the Agricultural Extension Policy and developing a new extension strategy.