Smallholder Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP)

About the Project

In Malawi, one in two people in rural areas are poor – the vast majority are small-scale food producers – driven by poor performance of the agriculture sector, volatile economic growth, population growth, and limited opportunities in non-farm activities. Agriculture accounts for around 30% of Malawi’s GDP and provides a livelihood for more than 80% of the population. The sector is composed of about two million small-scale food producers who use 6.5 million hectares of cultivable land and around 30,000 commercial estates that hold around 1.2 million hectares of cultivable land. Most small-scale food producers cultivate less than one hectare. Only 2% of Malawi’s cropland is irrigated, and almost all the irrigated land is controlled by commercial estates, which mainly grow cash crops such as tobacco, cotton, and coffee.

GAFSP invested $39.6 million for the promotion of irrigated rice and horticulture production as well as crop diversification and value chain development for selected commodities. The Smallholder Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP) increases agricultural production and productivity through the intensification of irrigation, crop diversification, value addition, and capacity building for sustainable land and water management and value chain development. The main activity, the intensification of irrigation, involves the construction of 11 new irrigation schemes and the rehabilitation of 5 existing schemes. It also supports the implementation of programs that address institutional and capacity constraints through capacity building of local farmers’ organizations, water users’ associations (WUAs), and farmers’ cooperatives on production technologies, nutrition, agribusiness, and environmental management. Farmers will be trained on good farming practices including timing, planting, and harvesting techniques to maximize crop potential, and nutrition.