Trade-offs in sustainable intensification: Malawi country report

Smallholder farmers in Malawi face a constant challenge: to choose between many, often competing, social, economic and environmental objectives while also meeting expectations to intensify their farming practices sustainably and produce ‘more with less’. 

Farmers manage this situation by making trade-offs; choosing and prioritising goals based on household circumstances and by weighing immediate productivity/financial gains against long-term goals. 

This report presents findings from the SITAM project, which explored how farmers in Malawi manage these trade-offs. It draws conclusions and recommendations for what national and sub-national government can do to support more sustainable choices at farm level in Malawi.