To address the challenges of poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition, the Government of Malawi (GoM) is implementing the second phase of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS II), which encompasses policies and programs in line with the pillars of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) framework. Under the MGDS II, the GoM has committed to raise agricultural growth by at least 6.0 percent and keep the national budget allocated to agriculture to at least 10 percent, in compliance with the CAADP. To achieve these goals, the GoM has adopted the Agricultural Development Plan (ADP), embraced in the Agriculture-Sector Wide Approach (A-SWAp).  
The agricultural sector in Malawi is dominated by smallholder farmers with low productivity. Considering the small size of the country and the limited availability of arable/crop land, there is a need to raise productivity through agricultural intensification. A key tenet to raising productivity and production to achieve the agricultural growth rates of the A-SWAp is the adoption of improved technologies such as integrated soil fertility management (ISFM) and modern cropping practices, while in the process, increasing smallholder farmers’ incomes. This report provides information and estimates of fertilizer consumption levels necessary to achieve the A-SWAp growth rate that will contribute to reaching the targets of the MGDS II by 2016. It also analyzes the challenges in the supply chain and recommends policies that will support the increased levels of projected fertilizer consumption.   
The estimates in this assessment indicate that Malawi must double its consumption from 297,000 metric tons (mt) of fertilizer products to 600,000 mt annually in order to meet the agriculture sector growth targets by 2016. This level of fertilizer use will require addressing existing constraints in the supply chain so that larger volumes of products can be handled without significant issues. This includes addressing bottlenecks in the procurement of fertilizer and logistics and financing issues as well as research and extension services for agro-dealer and farmer capacity building.  