The Root and Tuber Crops Development Trust (RTCDT) in partnership with the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture, the International Potato Centre (CIP) and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) - Malawi is implementing a five-year project called Root and Tuber Crops for Agricultural Transformation in Malawi abbreviated as “RTC - Action Malawi” with funding from Irish Aid.
The goal of RTC Action Malawi is to increase the contributions of root and tuber crops (RTC) to food security, nutrition, and incomes in Malawi.
In support of Malawi’s commitment to diversify and transform the country’s agriculture into a sustainable and economically viable sector, RTC Action Malawi partners embarked on this RTC-ACTION project designed as a national research and development program with technical coordination by CIP and close ties to the Root and Tuber Crops Development Trust (RTCDT) for stakeholder engagement.
The goal of RTC-ACTION Malawi is to increase the contributions of root and tuber crops (RTC) to food security, nutrition, and incomes in Malawi. The project promoted harnessing advances in RTC research and development and scale them up through potato, sweet potato, and cassava value chains to meet the demand by farmers, consumers, processors, and traders in Malawi. Within the 5-year project duration, 160,000 farming households accessed and used improved root and tuber planting material, technologies and practices, and at least 500,000 consumers will benefit from nutritious RTC foods. In particular, RTC-ACTION Malawi led to significant increases in productivity and sales revenues among 25,000 RTC smallholder farmers, and in improved diet quality of over 80,000 women and 60,000 children under 5 years of age.
The project provided technical, capacity, and implementation support to the national Root and Tuber Crops Development Trust (RTCDT) to coordinate stakeholders for increased investments and continued innovation in RTC value chains.
The specific objectives of RTC-ACTION were the following:
- Objective 1: Increased productivity, climate resilience, and nutritional value of RTC production systems
- Objective 2: Increased revenues, consumer-orientation, and nutrition outcomes of RTC value chains
- Objective 3: Effective policies and strengthened capacities for continued development of RTC
RTC-ACTION was also implemented through a robust partnership that comprised CIP and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) as CGIAR partners; the Department of Agricultural Research Services (DARS), the Department of Agriculture Extension Services (DAES), and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources as main government partners; the nongovernmental organizations Concern Worldwide, United Purpose, and other local organizations; Universal Industries Ltd and other commercial partners; and farmers and community groups.