NATIONAL RURAL DEVT.

closed

The First National Rural Development Program Project will assist the Government to implement the first phase of Malawi's National Rural Development Programme. Over a five-year period, it aims to increase output of four major crops (maize, groundnuts, dark-fired and oriental tobacco and rice) and expand production of milk and meat. It would also complete the consolidation phase of the Lilongwe Land Development Programme. About 90,000 farm families would benefit directly from the project which would enable them to increase their annual farm income by at least 40 percent. Major risks facing the project are: (i) adoption of improved husbandry practices by farmers may be slower than projected; (ii) fertilizer use may be reduced if the prices of fertilizers rise faster than smallholder producer prices; (iii) dark-fired tobacco may prove difficult to market due to limited world demand.