Mapping the Cocoyam Value Chain in Nkhata Bay in Order to Identify Activities of the Key Actors and their Relationships

Abstract

Feston Singoyi, Ulemu Musiska, Frank Mnthambala and Allan Pheremelo Kumwenda

Cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta) remains a grossly neglected and underutilized crop in Malawi despite its documented potential for addressing food insecurity, improving household income, and providing nutritional and helping in the community resilience to the adversary of climate change. This study assessed the cocoyam value chain in Nkhata Bay District, Malawi, examining key actors, their activities, relationships, and the chain's implications for household food security, livelihoods, and poverty reduction. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 390 farmers, 20 vendors, 15 transporters and 50 consumers as respondents across five Extension Planning Areas through structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. Findings reveal a small-scale, predominantly informal value chain composed of input suppliers, producers, wholesalers, retailers, transporters, traditional healers, and consumers, notably lacking processors and exporters and no value addition observed. Cocoyam is entirely absent from district crop databases, national agricultural statistics, and policy frameworks, creating governance and institutional vacuums that perpetuate the chain's subsistence orientation. Producers about 91% generate income. A governance vacuum, absent quality standards, FISP exclusion, and no producer cooperatives, systematically suppresses commercialization. The study recommends for need of coordinated interventions across institutional mainstreaming, producer protection, market infrastructure development, transport improvement, and value addition. Findings contribute to empirical evidence supporting Malawi Vision 2063's crop diversification agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals on zero hunger and poverty reduction.

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