Mwapata Institute

24/04/2026

Happy Birthday to our Research Analyst, Zephania Nyirenda. 🎂

22/04/2026

On Tuesday, 21st April 2026, we convened a Rapid Evidence and Policy Dialogue on Agricultural Trade Restrictions in Malawi. The dialogue, held at Sunbird Capital Hotel in Lilongwe, was organised in collaboration with Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) and supported by the Africa Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ANAPRI).

The event brought together stakeholders in trade and related issues to discuss and expand the scope and address the knowledge gaps left by the MwAPATA Institute’s recent study on the potential impacts of export mandates on Malawi’s economy and development trajectory on an “ex-ante” basis. The stakeholders shared more extensive insights required to quantify the impacts of broader trade restrictions beyond those of export mandates.

21/04/2026

Our Research Fellow Dr. Maggie Munthali will be a panelist at the Policy Dialogue on Earth Day organised by the World Agriculture Forum (WAF). The dialogue will be held on Wednesday, 22nd April 2026, from 3:00PM (CET) under the theme "Building Carbon-Positive Food Systems through Soil Health".

Representing MwAPATA, the leading Agricultural Policy Think Tank in Malawi, Dr. Munthali will be one of the five distinguished panelists that will discuss the WAF Global Soil Health Coalition and the urgent need to place soil health at the center of climate policy.

Scan the QR code on the flyer to register and participate virtually in the dialogue.

19/04/2026

Save the Date | 21st April 2026 | Sunbird Capital Hotel | 8:00am



Africa Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes
Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources

18/04/2026

Save the Date | 24th April 2026

17/04/2026

On Thursday, 16th April 2026, the Mwapata Institute, in partnership with UNDP Malawi, the TRADE Program and the National Planning Commission of Malawi, with support from the European Union in Malawi, convened a high-level, multi-stakeholder roundtable event under the Uliimi ndi Chilengedwe (UCHI) Commercialisation project. The event, which was held under the theme “Turning Potential into Commercial Outcomes: Strengthening Implementation for Inclusive Agricultural Commercialisation,” took place at the Sunbird Capital Hotel in Lilongwe.

During the event, the MwAPATA Institute shared key findings and policy recommendations from deep-dive analyses of the banana, soybean, and rice value chains, with a focus on translating those findings into coordinated action for inclusive agricultural commercialisation.

The roundtable event brought together government policymakers, private sector actors, financial institutions, development partners and other critical stakeholders who brainstormed and mapped pathways to the transformative implementation of evidence-based actions for Inclusive Agricultural Commercialisation.

15/04/2026

TOMORROW! UCHI Roundtable Event | Sunbird Capital - Lilongwe | 2pm - 5pm

10/04/2026

10/04/2026

Yesterday, 9th April 2026, we successfully convened the interactive and insightful 16th edition of the Ndizotheka Eminent Speaker Series (ESS) held at the BICC in Lilongwe. The 16th ESS was organized in collaboration with our partners, namely the National Planning Commission of Malawi, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Oxfam in Malawi, with support from AGRA-Sustainably Growing Africa’s Food Systems. and the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi. The theme for the event was "Policy and State Capability for Agricultural Transformation: Creating and Enabling Environment for Private Sector Investment in Malawi."

In his presentation, the keynote speaker, Jonathan Said, who is the Vice President for Centre of Technical Expertise at AGRA, called for a structured collective action from the champions of change in both the public and private sectors to achieve agricultural transformation in Malawi. He emphasized that if the problem hindering the transformation is misaligned incentives and fragmented actors, then the solution is not more traditional projects but structured collective action.

The thought-provoking presentation from the eminent speaker was followed by various reactions from the participants, who raised different suggestions as potential solutions to unlock transformative private sector investment in agriculture. The discussion was mainly centred on the coordination of key players investing in agricultural transformation. A panel discussion that followed the plenary cemented the eminent speaker's insights as the panelists shared their perspectives on actions that ought to be taken to create an enabling environment for private sector investment in Malawi's agriculture. Among other things, approaches like commodity cluster compacts were recommended as a pathway to agricultural transformation.

The 16th ESS brought together key stakeholders from the government, civil society organizations, development partners, private sector, farmer organizations, academia and research institutions, students and the media to discuss policy-related challenges and opportunities towards creating an enabling environment for private sector investment in Malawi for agricultural transformation. The eminent speaker series aims at increasing awareness and strengthening coordination among these stakeholders on critical policy issues affecting agriculture, natural resources, trade and community development in Malawi.

09/04/2026

TODAY!

08/04/2026

1 Day to go!