This part of the manual brings parts 1 and 2 together with your own knowledge and experience. It will guide you to create a personalised design for achieving sustainable nutrition and a better future. You’ll draw maps and sketches as you make your plans to make the most of all the resources that you have now, as well as building up resources for the future.

This part of the manual is about Natural Systems and Sustainability. You will learn about the Nature Cycle and the Water Cycle and an understanding about Soil Fertility and the benefits of Diversity in Nature will develop. You will be introduced to Permaculture designs and sustainable living practices. You will find out about renewable and non-renewable resources and begin to understand the wider issues of sustainability. This book can be used in your homes, offices, schools, communities, farms and gardens. You can discuss the ideas in it with others so that eventually your whole nation designs and lives sustainably.

This manual is for people who eat, grow or buy food and who want to improve their own lives, their community and the environment that they live in. It has been written for, and by, people living in Malawi, but the ideas in it can be applied anywhere in the world. It is for all people, everywhere, but most of all it is for you. Many people in Malawi have used this manual with great results and, if you use these ideas, you will also be able to:

• Improve your diet and health
• Save money that was spent on food, medicines and chemicals
• Double or triple yields and harvests (or even more!)
• Reduce the amount of watering in gardens and orchards
• Reduce the amount of work done on your land and in your home
• Have healthier plants and animals
• Reduce infertile and unproductive areas of land
• Use free resources to improve soil and water in your area

This handbook is written so that participating farmers and their families can equitably address food production and nutrition issues for good health. FFS participants are encouraged to share what they learn with farmers in their community, schools and other community groups so their whole community benefits. Persons working in extension support services such as Agricultural Extension Development Officers (AEDOs), Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs), and other service areas (Community Development, Forestry, Environmental Health, Teacher Development Centres, schools, etc.) can use the handbook to support farming families to diversify food production and utilization for better nutrition.

This landscape analysis is an overview of key gender, nutrition and agricultural extension issues in Malawi. It contributes to the knowledge base of Feed the Future countries for both the INGENAES team and country extension and development practitioners. It begins with an overview of Malawian geography, culture, and poverty status. It then provides a description of the Malawian agricultural sector, the national agriculture strategy, and women’s involvement in agriculture; food security and nutrition issues in the country; and the national nutrition strategy. In addition, the analysis provides details on the Feed the Future approach in Malawi and how USAID’s country strategy supports Feed the Future activities. The final section of the report includes descriptions of various projects that are relevant to the INGENAES program. 

In April 2014, at the invitation of USAID/Malawi, a MEAS team conducted an assessment of agricultural extension, nutrition education, and integrated agriculture-nutrition programs and systems in Malawi. An overarching purpose of the assessment is to investigate these programs and systems across public, private, and civil society sector providers with the aim of informing the design of an activity that will strengthen delivery of extension and nutrition outreach services in the seven Feed the Future focus districts in a coordinated and integrated manner. 

The assessment methodology includes literature review, interviews and field visits, and an assessment review workshop. The team reviewed agriculture extension, nutrition, and integrated programming literature; carried-out over 55 individual and group interviews; and made field trips to three districts. The review workshop, in which over 25 stakeholders from across sectors participated, was held to present preliminary findings of the assessment and obtain further input from stakeholders. 

in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda

While there is mounting evidence on the link between promoting women’s equality and economic empowerment and other development outcomes, such as sustainable agricultural and economic growth, gender issues are being inadequately reflected in agricultural policy strategies and programs. At the same time, a changing climate means that there is a shrinking window of opportunity for action, and it is imperative that climate-smart approaches to agriculture help close the gender gap and promote women’s empowerment, economic development, and societal resilience to shocks.

The National Agricultural Policy seeks to raise the profile of the agricultural sector so that it effectively contributes to the national development aspirations of turning the country from a predominantly consuming to a producing and exporting nation, targeting all value chain stages.

Presentation on FISP and the extension debate in perspective in Malawi, asking questions such as: Is there a deepening crisis of extension human resource? Is demand driven pluralistic extension policy folly?

One of the objectives of this policy document is to present a framework for the future of extension in Malawi by highlighting a number of key guiding principles and the roles that various key actors and agencies can play.

This implementation guide includes the four pillars upon which the DAESS is built, tools for facilitating farmers’ demands, the DAESS implementation structure, its functions and its relationship to the Local government structure.

The District Agricultural Extension Services System (DAESS) introduces a new approach to agricultural extension services provision at decentralised levels. The objective of the DAESS is to empower farmers to demand high quality services from those that are best able to provide them. In order to facilitate implementation of DAESS, this guide has been written for all agricultural extension service providers including public and private sectors, Non Governmental Organisations, Community Based Organisations, Faith Based Organisations, and Farmer Based Organisations.