This report is a critical review of two of the principal agricultural laws in Malawi, the Special Crops Act and the Agriculture (General Purposes) Act. Both are frequently used to justify interventions by government in agricultural marketing and trade activities.

Following poor harvests in the 2015/16 cropping season in Malawi, vulnerability assessments found that nearly 6.7 million people, primarily in the Southern and Central regions, were likely to suffer from food insecurity before the next harvest.