Climate-Resilient Value Addition to Legume-Based Vegetable Oil Production in Malawi
Malawi spends over US$87 million annually on imported cooking oil, despite abundant local oil seeds like soybean, sunflower, and groundnut.
1/5/20261 min read
This drains foreign exchange, limits rural incomes, and leaves agro-processing underutilized.
SAFFACC aims to change this by piloting a climate-smart legume-to-oil value chain in Lilongwe. The project will engage 5,000 smallholders (50% women, 30% youth) through a cooperative-led out-grower model, supported by solar irrigation, AI-powered agronomy, and a mid-scale processing hub. The hub will produce branded “Malawi Climate-Smart Oil” for domestic and regional markets, linking to institutional buyers such as school feeding and social protection programs. This initiative will strengthen food security, rural incomes, and resilience while advancing Malawi’s Vision 2063 pillars of productivity, industrialization, and human capital development.