The increase in variability of rainfall patterns, sudden and severe floods, prolonged droughts, and changing temperatures severely impact Malawi’s ability to grow food. Since 1960, the mean annual temperature has increased by 0.9 ° C . Recent studies conducted in Malawi show alarming evidence of rapidly warming temperatures with projected temperature increases of between 1.9 to 2.5 °C by 2055 . See Figure 1 from Sova et al., 2018 for a country-wide analysis of projected temperature and precipitation changes by 2050. Climate change poses addition challenges to maize production in Malawi. Researchers have discovered that warming temperatures in Malawi could lead to reduced planting seasons and significantly reduced maize yields . Researchers also find that yields decline for all major maize cultivars in Malawi using combined temperature and precipitation projections . GoM’s National Climate Change Management Policy identifies increased adoption of climate smart agricultural practices as a critical need for farmers in Malawi. According to the FAO, Climate Smart Agriculture practices encompass an approach to agriculture that helps to guide actions needed to transform agricultural systems to support sustainable food production given changing climatic conditions . CSA aims to sustainably increasing agricultural productivity, support adaption to climate change, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through improved agricultural practices .CSA focuses on the implementation of sustainable interventions including improved soil management, soil and water conservation practices, development of resilient crop varieties, and agroforestry practices. Improving soil management includes practices such as conservation agriculture , soil fertility management, and diversifying farming systems to include multiple crops in order to reduce soil erosion and retain nutrients in the soil . CA encompasses farming practices including minimal soil disturbance through low- or no-tillage planting, maintenance of carbon-rich organic matter to cover and feed soils, and crop rotations . Soil- and water-conservation practices for agriculture emphasize crop residue management, mulching, terracing, rainwater harvesting,french flower bucket and efficient irrigation management . Planting resilient crop and early maturing varieties also supports the development of high-yielding, heat, drought, and pest-resistant crops.

Agroforestry is another CSA practice that involves integrating trees or shrubs into agricultural production systems. Agroforestry includes practices to improve fallows, grow crops alongside forest plantations, establish home gardens, grow multipurpose trees or shrubs, and integrate trees into animal pastures . The use of trees in agricultural systems reduces vulnerability to extreme weather events by improving soil fertility and moisture content, reducing erosion and diversifying production for farmers in case of crop failure . According to the FAO, the CSA interventions described above allow farmers to sustainably increase yields while adapting to impacts of climate change on agricultural systems . Adopting CSA practices is critical for developing effective climate change responses and continuing to support sustainable food production in Malawi. Extension and Advisory Services support rural development, improve food security, and enhance agricultural production systems across the world. Birner and colleagues p. 342, define EAS as, “the entire set of organizations that support and facilitate people engaged in agricultural production to solve problems and to obtain information, skills, and technologies to improve their livelihoods and well-being.” These services operate within a larger system of agricultural knowledge and information systems with actors that generate and share knowledge about agricultural technologies with farmers and information generators. Rivera and colleagues have categorized the key actors within agricultural knowledge systems into three types: education, research, and extension .At the center of the Agricultural Knowledge System are the farmers that act as the key clients of agricultural innovations, but also share information with extension institutions, research organizations, and agricultural educators as they field test new technologies and develop new agricultural innovations themselves. According to Lubell and colleagues p.1093, “agricultural extension enhances adaptive capacity when it manages knowledge systems in ways that help farmers react to changes in economic, social, and environmental processes.”

These knowledge systems are strengthened when actors collaborate to develop and deliver relevant information in order to enhance resilience and support sustainable livelihoods for farmers. There are numerous approaches or methods utilized by actors within agricultural knowledge systems to support farmers with EAS. The advisory methods utilized by extension providers vary depending on actor’s paradigms, goals, and resources. EAS providers use a variety of extension methods including the model village approach, demonstrations, field days, lead farmers, farmer field schools, mass media and participatory farmer research. Village meetings or the model village approach, are commonly used to create awareness about important agricultural issues, obtain approval from village leadership for proposed projects, and mobilize farmers to participate in new initiatives . Through this approach, community leaders work with extension agents, catalyze community buy-in for new projects, prioritize actions with local leaders, learn about key issues in the community, and design tailored extension plans to improve community management structures . Demonstrations are widely used by extension officers to disseminate information on new agricultural technologies to farmers. Demonstrations are conducted at research stations, training centers, and on farmer’s fields. This method is used by the public sector, NGOs, and the private sector to promote new seeds or agricultural inputs to farmers. Demonstrations show farmers how to implement a technology and the result of that technology on local crop systems . Field days are also used as an advisory method and are coordinated amongst extension workers and farmers to promote a meaningful learning opportunity between organizations, extension staff, and farmers. These field days allow extension and subject matter experts to receive feedback on new technologies and agricultural practices.

Field days may also, “attract a wide range of stakeholders who include input suppliers, donors, policymakers project staff civil society, and extension service providers” . Within this approach, participatory farmer research programs allow farmers to co-develop new technologies and innovations with researchers in order to increase adoption of those technologies. The Lead Farmer, or Farmer-to-Farmer approach, is used to help disseminate information and new technologies from fellow farmers who have adopted certain practices or gained new information. Lead Farmers have been shown to substantially increase rates of technology adoption, increase the number of farmers receiving extension services, and reduce the cost of extension services for farmers because they are often viewed as trustworthy and credible sources of information within a community. Farmer Field Schools are another method used to educate farmers and typically include groups of 20 – 25 farmers who meet regularly to discuss, modify, and experiment with new production practices. During Farmer Field Schools, farmers receive training from experienced facilitators. This method allows farmers to observe and test their own ideas while building agricultural content and skills. Finally, mass media or Information Communications Technology platforms are widely used to provide information to farmers. ICT platforms including radio are widely used by governments and NGOs to disseminate information to large groups of farmers.Agricultural extension and advisory services in Malawi date to 1903 when GoM began advising farmers on improved methods of cotton to be exported to Britain. In 1949, a severe drought led to widespread famine across Malawi. This disaster resulted in the development of a more centralized approach to advisory services by the government. Then in 1964, the Department of Agricultural Extension and Training was established to provide comprehensive training, agriculture, husbandry, home economics, irrigation, and credit services to farmers. The DAET was eventually separated into various departments and nongovernmental organizations became increasingly important dual extension providers. The Department of Agricultural Extension and Training eventually evolved to become the Department of Agricultural Extension Services and operates as one of the six departments within the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, Water, and Development . DAES is the main provider of extension services to farmers throughout Malawi and coordinates activities with district-level government partners. Additional departments under MoAIWD that support the dissemination of extension information in Malawi include Animal Health, Crop Production, Fisheries, Irrigation, and Land Resources and Conservation Departments. The six departments within MoAIWD including DAES are represented by eight Agricultural Development Divisions . These ADDs are further divided into twenty-eight District Agriculture Development Offices , one-hundred and eighty-seven Extension Planning Areas under the DADOs, and finally Sections which each comprise 5-15 villages and represent the smallest administrative unit . Staff at the EPA level are called Extension Agents and are tasked with, “conveying technical messages to farmers, forming farmer groups to carry out farmer demonstrations,bucket flower and linking farmers to credit institutions” . Technical experts from Malawi’s research institutions including Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources , the University of Malawi, Mzuzu University, and Malawi University of Science and Technology also support the development of new technologies and outreach messages to improve Malawi’s public extension system .

In its effort to decentralize Malawi, in 2000, GoM and DAES introduced a new agricultural extension policy. This new policy termed, “Agricultural Extension in the New Millennium: Towards Pluralistic and Demand-Driven Services in Malawi” promotes a pluralistic extension system that allows for the delivery of specialized services to farmers through multiple extension providers. This policy was introduced to allow for the participation of other extension providers apart from the government to more effectively respond to environmental, social, economic challenges impacting the development of the agriculture sector in Malawi . Through this policy, NGOs, farmer groups, and private industry could operate extension services to farmers throughout the country to complement government extension activities. In Malawi, agricultural extension providers also include non-profit organizations, farmer groups, and private companies. Dozens of local and international nongovernmental organizations provide extension services throughout Malawi and many are members of the Civil Society Agricultural Network . CISANET has a membership of over one-hundred organizations and provides policy advocacy support in programmatic areas including, “climate smart agriculture, markets and international trade, livestock and dairy development, governmental budget accountability, and nutrition and social protection” . NGOs providing extension services operate across Malawi and often utilize government extension staff to implement their program activities at the local level. The majority of NGO activities are, “funded by external donors through implementation contracts with predetermined targets and centralized control. The relatively small size of NGO efforts and the drive to differentiate themselves technically and operationally from other EAS service providers competing for the same contracts lead to an operational context characterized by a large number of actors employing variations of the same approaches and technical themes, all attempting to work with the DAES to achieve impact” . There are also several large donor-funded projects operating within the context of Malawi’s extension system. For example, the United States Agency for International Development has funded many multi-year, multi-million dollar projects such as Strengthening Agriculture and Nutrition Extension Services Activity implemented by the University of Illinois and United in Building and several projects implemented by Catholic Relief Services .The Farmers Union of Malawi is the main umbrella organization representing farmer interests and includes 93 member organizations that represent an estimated 350,000 smallholder farmers . In addition, the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi is a member-owned association of 108,000 farmers organized into approximately 43 farmer associations across Malawi. Private sector extension providers include actors supporting the production of agricultural commodities as well as, “agricultural input companies , and agricultural input retailers” . Private sector extension providers have been categorized by Simpson and colleagues as utilizing either push or pull business models. Push business models are utilized by agricultural input supplies and, “focus on the provision of additional value-added advisory services, such as advising related to consumers’ input purchasing decisions” . In contrast, pull business models are utilized by companies focusing on the production of agricultural commodities such as maize and often provide extension services to farmers in exchange for purchasing the commodities that the farmer grows. These extension services support the adoption of new technologies, practices, knowledge, and information that can help farmers overcome barriers to increasing crop yields, adapting to changing climatic conditions, and ensuring sustainable livelihoods of farmers. According to GoM, challenges remain in implementing effective services for maize farmers. These include a lack of coordination and communication amongst extension providers, conflicting messages disseminated to farmers by various stakeholders, and inadequate opportunities and support for engagement among stakeholders . Inconsistent recommendations provided by the extension system, particularly regarding climatic viability and best practices for the sustainable intensification of agriculture have remained significant challenges in Malawi.