Structural barriers limit the potential benefits of legume production.
Malawi continues to face significant challenges related to food insecurity and poverty.
Many smallholder farmers struggle to secure stable incomes and reliable access to food. Against this backdrop, crops such as legumes have been widely promoted as part of the solution.
Legumes: a wonder crop?
Legumes, such as groundnuts (peanuts), soybeans, and other beans, are rich in protein and dietary fibre. They also improve soil fertility by taking nitrogen from the air and turning it into nutrients that plants can use, while adding organic matter to the soil as the plants break down.
They also contribute to climate resilience by improving soil water retention, providing stable yields under variable conditions, and increasing crop diversity. Having a mix of crops means that if one fails due to weather, pests, or disease, others can still produce a harvest.
Unrealised potential
Despite these benefits, new research shows that the potential of legumes remains largely unrealised.
Development studies researcher Mayamiko Kakwera studied how smallholder farmers produce and market legumes in the Dowa District of Malawi, and how this contributes to food security in the region. He found systemic structural barriers in the food system affecting legume production.
“Weak governance, unequal and often exploitative market relations, centralised agricultural services, and entrenched inequalities all reduce productivity,” explains Kakwera.
These inequalities include women doing most of the production work, limited access to quality seeds and extension services, exploitative markets, insecure access to land, and rising debt. Together, these factors reduce farmers’ earnings and make it harder for them to fully benefit from growing legumes.
Kakwera also found that inconsistent pricing practices and non-standardised weighing systems disadvantage farmers in the marketplace. In addition, informal credit arrangements often lead to advance sales at low prices, which contributes to cycles of debt.
The research also highlights challenges within the agricultural support systems that are supposed to help smallholder farmers. Extension and advisory services are characterised by centralised decision-making, which limits the influence of locals and reduces the effectiveness of frontline extension workers. As a result, farmers’ knowledge, needs, and initiatives are not properly reflected in policies and programmes.
Limits of production‑focused policy
Kakwera’s research challenges the dominant production-focused approach to agricultural policy. This approach focuses mainly on using technical fixes to improve farming, such as promoting better-quality seeds that can produce higher yields, and government-supplied subsidies that make fertilizers cheaper for farmers.
While these interventions can increase yields, Kakwera found that, on their own, they are not enough to improve livelihoods or create a more equitable food system. The structural and institutional misalignment that exists in food systems in Malawi must also be addressed. Without improving these broader conditions, productivity gains do not translate into meaningful benefits for farmers, argues Kakwera.
The findings also point to significant differences in the situation of smallholders in the district. Farm size, gender, livelihood strategies, and levels of debt all influence farmers’ opportunities and constraints. Recognising this diversity is essential for designing policies that support equity and sustainability.
“We should move beyond a narrow, technology-driven approach and focus also on the structural and institutional factors that shape food security outcomes,” says Kakwera. “My research demonstrates that technological approaches alone are not enough. Market power, land access, and governance are not addressed in this approach.”
What needs to change?
For Malawi, and other countries facing similar challenges, improving food security and rural livelihoods requires more than increasing agricultural production. Kakwera recommends systemic reform, including:
- Efforts to address exploitative market structures
- Strengthened crop sale regulations
- More inclusive governance
- Better-functioning extension services
- Policies based on the realities faced by smallholders
“The limited and declining role of legumes is not a story of failed crops,” concludes Kakwera. “It is a reflection of deeper shortcomings in the food system architecture. Real progress depends on political will, strategic prioritisation, and reforms that place smallholder farmers at the centre.”
Mayamiko Nathaniel Kakwera will defend his thesis 'Beyond the yield: Legume production and structural barriers in Malawi's food system' on 11 June 2026 at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. See the event webpage for details.
