The Malawi Government (GOM) agreed with development partners to formulate the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach (ASWAp) as a means for achieving the agricultural growth and poverty alleviation goals of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) being implemented from 2006 to 2011. The MGDS has targeted agriculture as the driver of economic growth and recognizes that food security is a prerequisite for economic growth and poverty alleviation.
The ASWAp, therefore, offers a strategy for supporting priority activities in the agricultural sector in order to increase agricultural productivity to make Malawi a hunger-free nation, enable people to access nutritious foods, and increase the contribution of agro-processing to economic growth. The ASWAp is unique in that it is a program led by the host country (Malawi Government), envisages a single comprehensive programme and budget framework, has a formalized process for better donor coordination and harmonization of investment and alignment of funding arrangements between GOM and donors, promotes increased use of local procedures for programme design, implementation, financial management, planning, and monitoring.
The ASWAp is organized in relation to three focus areas, two key support services, and mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues covering:
- Focus Areas: a) Food security and Risk management, b) Agri-business and market development, and c) Sustainable land and water management.
- Key-support Services: a) Technology generation and dissemination and b) Institutional strengthening and capacity building.
- Cross-cutting Issues: a) HIV and AIDS pandemic and b) Gender disparities