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How can digital tools help farmers get the information they need to make better decisions in the field? In Malawi, the Malawi Digital Plant Health Service (MaDiPHS), led by NIBIO in collaboration with Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and national and international partners, is developing digital services to make plant-health information more accessible and easier to […]

Around 30,000 people already call a digital agricultural information service in Malawi every month – even though the service has not yet been publicly promoted. Now farmers, extension workers and other users are helping shape how the service should develop. Read the full article here: https://www.nibio.no/en/news/2026/malawan-farmers-help-shape-digital-plant-health-services

Agriculture is the backbone of Malawi, where millions of farmers depend on healthy crops for food, income, and survival. Yet invisible threats — pests, diseases, and climate pressures — continue to put harvests at risk.As part of the MaDiPHS project led by NIBIO, Malawi is building a new digital plant health system powered by artificial intelligence,

In Dedza District, farmers are facing growing challenges from pests, diseases, and climate change affecting key crops such as maize, groundnuts, and cassava. Through the MaDiPHS project, local plant doctors, extension workers, and lead farmers are using smartphones and digital surveillance tools to detect crop threats early and send real-time data for rapid response.In this

Not every farmer in Malawi has access to a smartphone or internet connection. Through the Viamo 3-2-1 service, the MaDiPHS project is helping bridge that gap by delivering agricultural advice through SMS and voice-based messages in Chichewa. By dialing the free 3-2-1 hotline, farmers across the country can access trusted information about crop health, pests,

Read the article here: https://times.mw/project-moves-to-promote-safer-pesticide-use/

Video: World Bank officials are briefed on how MaDiPHS and its partners are advancing digital solutions that are transforming agricultural extension services in Malawi.

Meet Lumbani Benedicto Banda, a PhD student with the MaDiPHS project at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), where he also teaches. In this film, he shares what motivated him to apply for the MaDiPHS Scholarship and talks about his research on cassava mosaic disease and the whitefly that spreads it.

Meet Nzeru Bradson Lihoma, a master’s student in irrigation engineering at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR). As a MaDiPHS Scholarship awardee, he shares what inspired him to apply, his research on the dynamics of fall armyworm in Malawian maize, and how his work aims to support farmers across the country.