Is Africa Advancing Food Security? Insights from Rural Households in Malawi

Abstract

Malawi continues to adopt social protection policies for food security by increasing maize production. Drawing on cross-section panel data collected in three villages, this study reports on the household food security situation under social protection policies in rural Malawi. The study focuses on three dimensions (availability, accessibility, and stability) of food security and clarifies whether food security at the household level has been accomplished. We found that many households had not achieved food security with their own maize production and heavily relied on non-maize income to purchase maize from the market to supplement deficiency. Our panel data also indicated that the household food security situation is highly unstable due to unreliable weather, changing levels of input use, unstable off-farm income opportunities, and increased household dependency ratios. The study calls for a more comprehensive approach to food security that enhances both household maize production and non-maize economic activities. The current approach focuses mainly on increasing maize production.