Food security: reviving agricultural production or ensuring social welfare? The example of Malawi

To fight against poverty and food insecurity in Africa, Governments and donors first favoured agricultural production. Recently, the strengthening of social protection has made more followers. After pilot initiatives, social safety nets are currently deployed on a large scale on the continent. It is legitimate to compare the effectiveness of two types of aid. In Malawi, the input subsidies have increased corn production, but they are not enough to reduce rural poverty and ensure food security when the external environment is unfavourable. Social protection, in the form of cash transfers, can appear as a competitor in terms of funding, but its effects are complementary. It is by combining these two programs - social support for the most vulnerable, productive support for poor farmers - that Malawi could best respond to the diversity of the needs of its population.

FARM foundation – February 2013