Assessment of Market and Trade Analysis for Integrating Youth into Agricultural Value Chains in Malawi

AGRA in partnership with the Mastercard foundation is implementing the flagship Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food in Agriculture (YEFFA),a five-year youth employment program aimed at increasing youth and young women's involvement in agricultural transformation. The program, seeks to catalyse food systems transformation, creating 746,126 work opportunities for youth, with a strong emphasis on female participation.

To achieve this, YEFFA aims to cultivate an environment that promotes entrepreneurship, market access, agricultural productivity, financial inclusion, and youth participation in governance across Africa. In Malawi, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa(AGRA) is implementing a five-year strategic plan 2023-2027 under YEFFA with the goal of catalysing an inclusive agri-food system transformation that will facilitate the creation and access to 251,513 dignified jobs for the youth. In pursuit of this goal, AGRA commissioned this market study to identify youth employment opportunities in Malawi agricultural value chains and to provide recommendations for programming that will unlock and increase access to employment opportunities in agricultural value chains by the youth.

The market study was conducted across six predetermined agricultural value chains namely maize, rice, groundnuts, soybeans, sunflower, horticulture, and poultry; examining the extent to which each value chain presents key entry points for the youth.

The main objective of the market study was to map and identify economic opportunities (employment and entrepreneurship)for young people within Malawian agricultural value chains

Identifying key market actors, analyzing demand projections, and exploring opportunities to source from youth, women, and smallholder farmers within critical market sheds and trade corridors.