Review Of Macadamia Production In Malawi: Focusing On What, Where, How Much Is Produced And Major Constraints

Macadamia is an essential commodity crop in Malawi. The nuts are a lucrative commodity and are used for household consumption, income generation among farming families and as a foreign exchange earning crop at country-level. Macadamia production in Malawi has increased significantly in recent years. Malawi is the seventh top producer of macadamia nuts valued at 23.5 pound million, with a global market share of 3%. In 2018, the country was the fourth-largest exporter of macadamia nuts that were valued at 18.2 pound million. The majority (90%) of this crop was grown by large commercial estates with smallholder's production only contributing about 10% of the total crop production. However, the smallholder sector is vital for the future growth of the macadamia sector in the country. Further, Malawian smallholders consider macadamia production as a low-input crop with large returns per unit area (10.7 pound kg(-1) ha(-1)), and it thus a lucrative commodity with high potential for poverty reduction and wealth creation among these farming families. This paper, therefore, explores: (i) the historical and current trends in macadamia nut production in Malawi; (ii) analyses the country's macadamia value chain focusing on smallholder farmer contributions; and (iii) discusses the constraints of smallholder macadamia production in Malawi for informed policymaking. We conclude that the synthesis of the Malawian macadamia sub-sector provides an understanding of the vital contributions of macadamia to Malawi's economic growth and improvement of livelihoods.