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Civil Society Agriculture Network is a grouping of Civil Society Organisations that was established in 2001 to facilitate agriculture policy work.

CISANET deals with policy advocacy with specific on Agriculture and Food Security sector. It has a membership of about 104 CSOs, farmer organisations as well as international organisations. CISANET operations is through thematic areas of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Market Development and International Trade, Livestock and Dairy Development, Nutrition and Social Protection as well as National Agriculture Budget Lobby and Analysis.

22/01/2026

Yesterday, NASFAM, one of CISANET’s member organisations held its Annual General Meeting and took a deliberate moment to recognise outstanding women leaders advancing Malawi’s food systems.

In its recognition, NASFAM recognized the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Honorable Roza Fatch Mbilizi as the first female Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development.

We are proud that CISANET’s Board Chairperson, Ms. Driana Lwanda, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer of the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC), was among those recognised. This recognition took place in the presence of other senior leaders from institutions such as IFAD, CARE Malawi, AGRA, and Trust Africa among many others, underscoring the significance of her leadership across the sector.

Our Board Chair's recognition reflects the strength of CISANET’s governance and its positioning as a credible, influential platform for policy engagement, coordination and inclusive food systems transformation in Malawi.

20/01/2026

On January 12 and 14, 2026, CISANET, through the Combating Corruption in the Affordable Inputs Program (COCOA) project, organized district interface meetings in Phalombe and Dedza. These meetings aimed to disseminate findings from the Affordable Input Programme (AIP) scorecard exercise, engage local authorities in discussions on their roles in preventing corruption and related malpractices within the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP), explain the functionality of established Grievance Redress Mechanisms, outline reporting procedures for beneficiaries lodging complaints, and clarify how village chiefs can accurately identify deserving FISP beneficiaries following the adoption of the bottom-up selection method.

Read the full article on our website using the following link: https://cisanetmalawi.org/district-interface-meeting/ ‎

15/01/2026

Happy Chilembwe Day to you all

25/12/2025

Merry Christmas to you all!!!

11/12/2025

CISANET, through the Reducing Poverty and Inequality Project, funded by Oxfam and supported by Irish Civil Society Partnership (ICSP), organized special radio programs on the 5th and 8th of December on Mudziwathu community radio in Mchinji and Chisomo radio in Lilongwe, respectively. The programs aimed at discussing the issues of access to profitable markets for smallholder farmers with various stakeholders.

The programs focused on how to increase awareness amongst the local communities and all Malawians on the available markets, both local and international. The panelists also discussed how they can enhance collaboration between civil society organizations and district councils to improve smallholder farmers’ access to profitable agricultural markets.

Read the full article on our website using the following link: https://cisanetmalawi.org/supporting-small…ia-radio-program

28/11/2025

CISANET, through the Combating Corruption in the Affordable Input Program (AIP) (now Farm Input Subsidy Program FISP) project, organized special radio programs on Chanco and Bembeke community radio stations. These programs were primarily aimed at engaging audiences in Phalombe and Dedza districts, which fall within the project's catchment area.

The main objective of the project is to combat corruption within the FISP by promoting transparency and enhancing program integrity. It specifically focuses on improving the four components of the program's delivery framework, which include beneficiary selection, procurement of inputs, distribution, and utilization of inputs. In response to Malawi's President, Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika's announcement of adopting a bottom-up beneficiary selection process for this year's season, the program aimed to educate the residents of Phalombe and Dedza on the selection criteria to ensure the program reaches the deserving beneficiaries and encourages them to report any identified corrupt practices to the relevant authorities, including the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)

Read the full article on our website using the following link: https://cisanetmalawi.org/public-sensitiza…-2026-fisp-cycle/

21/11/2025

Big congratulations to our very own Monitoring and Evaluation Manager, Mr. Edwin Thumbiko Munthali, on successfully graduating with an MSc in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Your dedication to academic excellence is truly inspiring, and we're thrilled to see you shine! Your expertise as a policy analyst will only get stronger with this new qualification. We're proud to have you on our team, Edwin! Keep reaching for the stars!

06/11/2025

From October 28 to 31, 2025, the Civil Society Agriculture Network (CISANET), in collaboration with the Anti‑Corruption Bureau (ACB) organized a media tour in the districts of Phalombe and Dedza, where the Combating Corruption in the Affordable Inputs Programme (AIP) project is being implemented. The tour included visits to the Group Village Headmen (GVHs) of Namalima, Nyezelera, Nambazo, Chafumbwa, and Lobi.

The primary aim of the media tour was to explore challenges and limitations, document, and expose corrupt practices arising from the AIP, thereby providing farmers and agricultural leaders with a platform to voice the challenges they encounter under the AIP and to share personal experiences to strengthen accountability and transparency in the programme’s implementation.

Key Issues Raised by Participants, including limited access to the selling deposits, being charged an extra amount to expedite the purchase process, late input delivery, one person having multiple national identification cards, and Unified Beneficiary Registry (UBR) selection process, noting that it sometimes includes individuals who lack the capacity to farm and who subsequently sell their identification cards to vendors therefore, emphasize the need to shift the beneficiary selection process from the UBR to a community‑based approach led by chiefs and Village Agriculture Committees (VACs) to ensure inputs reach those who can productively use them.

Read the full article on our website using the following link: https://cisanetmalawi.org/media-engagement…ut-programme-aip/ ‎

04/11/2025

CISANET together with the Ministry of Agriculture, joined other African countries at the Regional Training for Master Trainers on using and promoting the Regional Food Balance Sheet (RFBS) Mobile App and platform. The Annual regional Training Sessions were held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 27th to 31st October 2025, drawing participation from the COMESA RFBS implementing countries, including the six MVP countries (Kenya, Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia).

The RFBS Phase II (2024–2027) builds upon the success of Phase I to strengthen agricultural data systems, promote evidence-based policymaking, and enhance food security and trade within the COMESA region. A key feature of Phase II is the development of an RFBS Mobile Application to improve accessibility, particularly among youth and women entrepreneurs engaged in agricultural trade.

The RFBS Platform is a digital tool developed by the Common Market for Eastern Southern Africa (COMESA) in partnership with Alliance for a Green Revolution Africa (AGRA) and other stakeholders which uses data from various public and private sources to provide forward-looking food balance estimates aiming to enhance trade and food security by providing accurate and timely data on food production, consumption and prices which enables informed decision making for policy makers, businesses and humanitarian organizations.

CISANET therefore contributed to the development of the RFBS Application intended to enhance food security, trade, and investment in the East and Southern African Region.

22/10/2025

CISANET wishes to congratulate Honorable Roza Fatch Mbilizi for being appointed as the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Water Development

15/10/2025

Celebrating love, care and dedication of mothers everywhere. We are where we are today because of their unconditional love.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

08/10/2025

On September 3, 2025, CISANET, with support from the Development Aid from People to People (DAPP-CISANET Member) under the Poverty Reduction of Vulnerable Beneficiaries Through Sustainable Soybean, Sunflower, and Groundnuts Producer Private Partnership project, held a meeting on access to profitable markets among smallholder farmers. The meeting aimed to discuss issues related to contract farming between smallholder farmers and off-takers, identify key challenges farmers face in accessing reliable markets, and discuss possible solutions and policy issues to address the identified market inefficiencies.

Read the full article on our website using the following link: https://cisanetmalawi.org/access-to-profit…markets-dialogue

Address

Area 47, Sector 5, Dzalanyama Street, P. O. Box 203
Lilongwe
0000

Telephone

+265886941993

Website

http://www.cisanetmalawi.org/

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