Rosemary Mbewe, a smallholder farmer from Chikwesa Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwase, Kasungu, spent decades struggling to feed her family.

Despite farming year after year, her yields were never enough to sustain the household between harvests.

“Maize and groundnuts are our main crops, but for years, we had low yields because we didn’t know the best practices,” Mbewe explained.

Smallholder farmers are the primary producers of food globally, yet millions of them cannot feed themselves.

A World Bank report, which was presented at the 2022 World Economic Forum, estimates that smallholder farms produce about 30% of the world’s food, and nearly two billion people depend on these farmers for sustenance.

Ironically, the bank found that a significant portion of the 700 million people who are food insecure are smallholder farmers themselves.

Their productivity is constrained by unpredictable climate patterns, land fragmentation due to population pressure, high costs of improved inputs, and soil fertility decline.

These interconnected challenges have fueled widespread poverty, malnutrition, and food insecurity, forcing governments to search for sustainable solutions.

In response, the Centre for Agricultural Transformation (CAT) launched a comprehensive initiative in 2019 to promote crop diversification as a pathway toward increased productivity, crop diversification, improved nutrition, and sustainable income.

With funding from Global Action to End Smoking (GA) and technical support from the Agricultural Transformation Initiative (ATI), CAT has directly supported over 80,000 smallholder farmers, with over 800, 000 smallholder farmers benefiting from the project indirectly.

Historically dependent on tobacco, many smallholder farmers are now transitioning to crops like soybeans, groundnuts, cassava, banana, sunflower, and sorghum, among others.

CAT Executive Director Macleod Nkhoma says that, in the period the CAT has been operating in Malawi, beneficiaries have either doubled or tripled their yields in some cases by adopting crop diversification and improved practices.

“By growing a variety of crops, farmers reduce their reliance on a single crop, which shields them from weather shocks and price fluctuations,” Nkhoma explained.

Diversifying farms, he noted, also opens opportunities for value addition, such as processing and selling directly to local markets.

Mbewe is among the many farmers who have directly benefited from CAT’s partnership with GUJA Investment Limited, an agribusiness partner in Kasungu.

According to CAT’s Impact Survey, Mbewe’s income yield per hectare increased by 36% following the intervention.

“The diversity of crops we grow and consume has led to a more balanced, nutritious diet and better household food security,” she shared.

Mbewe added that many farmers in Kasungu, motivated by the declining tobacco market, are now shifting toward sustainable, diversified farming systems.

Through its Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) portfolio, CAT runs smart farms and demonstration plots at three key locations in Zomba, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) campuses of Bunda and Natural Resources College (NRC).

These sites serve as hands-on learning environments, helping farmers acquire knowledge in climate-smart agriculture, crop management, and technological adoption across diverse value chains.

The overarching goal of CAT is to transform Malawi’s agricultural systems by making farming more inclusive, productive, and commercially viable for smallholder farmers.

Through a blend of innovation, market development, and grassroots training, CAT is redefining how rural smallholder farmers diversify production and feed their families and the nation.