The First Annual Agricultural Transformation Summit

On December 4-5, 2018, we met with over 150 delegates from across the public and private sectors and held an engaging discussion to help chart an action-oriented way forward to assist in the transformation of Malawi’s agricultural landscape. Key stakeholders from the farming sector, including smallholder farmers and tobacco leaf companies; the private sector; the government; banks; investment advisors; universities; and many more, focused on exciting in-country diversification efforts.

To learn more about the conference, you can review the following resources:

• Action-packed agenda
• Presentations:
  • Emerging Opportunities for Tobacco Farmers, presented by Fraym
  • Inclusive Growth Models for Agricultural Diversification, presented by Palladium International
  • Impacting Smallholder Livelihoods Through Spatial Analysis and Planning, presented by the Organization for Permanent Modernity
  • Reshaping Malawi’s Agricultural Sector, presented by FSFW
• Speaker bios
• Post-conference blog
• Pitch competition blog and videos
• Post-summit articles, including:
  • Summit Persuades Malawi Smallholder Tobacco Farmers to Diversify to New Crops
  • Malawi Govt backs ATI’s crop diversification to tobacco
  • Malawi’s National Planning Commission hails Agriculture Transformation Initiative

We also announced the following initiatives:

• The Center for Agricultural Transformation
  An agricultural Center of Excellence in Malawi, focused on science, technology, and innovation, as well as business incubation and commercialization.
• The Investment Support Facility
  A technical facility with the mandate to facilitate access to capital from local and international investors for agri-businesses of different sizes.
• Agri-preneur Pitch Competition
  Four youth in agri-business, or “agri-prenuers,” had the chance to showcase their work and passion for the sector and compete for awards. You can find their pitch videos on our website under “Agriculture and Livelihoods.”
• The 2nd Round of Agricultural Transformation Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
  A multimillion-dollar facility to provide grant funding for commercially driven concepts that have the potential to transform smallholder farmers’ livelihoods.
• Digital Financial Services (DFS) for Smallholders Challenge Fund RFP
  Announcement of a DFS Challenge Fund RFP focused on incentivizing the fintech sector to test innovative models for reaching smallholder farmers.
• LUANAR Scholarship Announcements
  Announcement of a pilot scholarship fund in partnership with Rotary International.