Informing an inclusive scaling strategy for bundled whole-farm innovations in Malawi’s maize-based mixed farming systems

Malawi’s maize-based smallholder farming systems are under increasing pressure from land scarcity, declining soil fertility, feed shortages, and recurrent climate shocks. Average farm sizes of less than one hectare, heavy reliance on maize, and limited access to quality seed, finance, advisory services, and markets constrain productivity and resilience. These challenges are interlinked: soil degradation reduces fertilizer responsiveness, dry-season feed deficits undermine livestock productivity and nutrient recycling, and weak financial and service delivery limit the sustained uptake of well-proven technologies. Experience across programs and districts shows that single technologies and stand-alone interventions, such as fertilizer recommendations, legume promotion, or forage introduction, have not sustained adoption, particularly among resource-constrained farmers, women, and youth who are being particularly disadvantaged. This report synthesizes available literature, program evidence, and stakeholder inputs from national and district-level engagements, conducted under the CGIAR Mixed Farming Systems Initiative (MFS) and Sustainable Farming Program (SFP). It aims to inform the development of an inclusive, context-specific and demand-driven scaling strategy for bundled whole-farm innovations in Malawi. Drawing on readiness and use diagnostics of existing innovations, and outcomes from multi-stakeholder bundling workshops, the report frames scaling as a systemic challenge, that requires coordination and integration across technical, institutional, financial, and social components. The analysis highlights the rationale for Socio-Technical Innovation Bundles (STIBs) that integrate improved cropping systems, soil health and fertilizer management, feed and forage options. Such bundled approaches are consistent with national priorities on soil health, livestock development, and climate resilience, and reflect lessons from stakeholder consultations that emphasize the need for sequencing, learning, and adaptation. To structure this discussion, the report applies responsible scaling principles across three complementary dimensions: scaling out, by adapting bundles to diverse farm typologies and agro-ecological contexts; scaling up, by aligning bundle delivery with existing policies, institutional mandates, and large-scale delivery platforms; and scaling deep, by strengthening farmer agency, collective organization, and local governance arrangements. The analysis assesses existing bundle components at subnational and national levels, identifies differentiated scaling pathways, and outlines constraints and opportunities within Malawi’s current policy, program and coordination landscape. The report provides an analytical foundation to support dialogue among government, research, development partners, and private actors on how bundled whole-farm approaches might be progressively integrated within existing systems. The framework and operational considerations presented are preliminary and illustrative, and are intended to guide further co-design, validation and prioritization with national stakeholders.