The pandemic has induced a sharp recession in many countries across the globe. The COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has caused an unprecedented shock to the global economy and led to an expected overall contraction of 4.4 percent in 2020.

Producers trading in informal agricultural markets in low- and middle-income countries make daily choices concerning their livelihood and marketing strategies. Different contexts present varying degrees of market power and knowledge asymmetries across value chains and trading relations.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the attempts to limit its spread have resulted in profound economic impacts, and a significant contraction in the global economy is expected.

This paper has been written for the 2020 ECAMA Lakeshore Conference. It extends and updates the initial results of modeling undertaken by IFPRI to assess the short-run impacts of COVID-19 control measures on the Malawian economy.

Severe weather shocks recurrently hit Malawi, and they adversely affect the incomes of many farm households as well as small businesses. With climate change, the frequency of extreme weather events is expected to increase further.

There are still 2.8 billion people worldwide who lack access to clean cooking solutions, a figure that has remained stubbornly high. This persistent gap shows that despite huge efforts, cookstove initiatives have largely failed to reach scale. Among other issues, access to affordable finance is still an immense barrier.

The Rural Livelihoods and Economic Empowerment Programme (RLEEP) has laid a good foundation for pro-poor value chain development. Small-scale farmers have increased their awareness that farming is a business. A number of useful partnerships were built and promising initiatives started.

The Coronavirus crisis could result in a catastrophic loss of life in poorer countries and push half a billion more people into poverty. Countries like the Central African Republic have just three ventilators for almost five million people, and Malawi has only a quarter of the nurses needed to provide healthcare for all.

The Free to Shine campaign1 is an initiative of the African Union, the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) and partners to address the growing complacency in the response to childhood HIV in Africa.

Foundational to the monitoring of international goals on land ownership and rights are the household survey respondents who provide the required individual-disaggregated data.