A new study has revealed a worrying shift in Malawi's rural economy, showing that millions of people are increasingly abandoning work in their own gardens to survive on low-paying piecework locally known as ganyu -- a trend experts warn is deepening poverty and food insecurity across the country.
The findings, released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (Ifpri), show that casual labour has become one of the main sources of income for many rural households as shrinking land sizes, economic hardship, and rising living costs push families away from subsistence farming.
Ganyu refers to temporary informal work, often paid daily or weekly, where people work in other people's gardens, construction sites, or businesses in exchange for money or food.
According to the policy brief, many rural Malawians are now spending more time doing casual labour and less time working on their own farms -- a development researchers say is trapping households in a dangerous cycle of poverty.
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The study analysed data from 35 819 working-age people living in rural areas.
Previously, rural households spent most of their productive time on their own farms, alongside small businesses and other income-generating activities. On average, people worked about 910 hours per year across farming, casual labour, household enterprises, and wage employment.
However, the report shows that annual working hours have now increased to 985 hours, with much of the extra time being spent on ganyu rather than farming.
The number of hours spent working in personal gardens has fallen significantly from 577 hours per year to 504 hours, while time spent on casual labour has sharply increased.
Researchers warn that this trend is weakening household food production and forcing families to depend more heavily on buying food from the market -- even though many ganyu jobs offer very low and unstable wages.
"As households devote less labour to their own farms and rely increasingly on ganyu, they become more dependent on both labour and food markets to secure their livelihoods," reads part of the report.
The study says the rise in ganyu has not improved people's welfare or food security. Instead, poverty and hunger are becoming more strongly linked to casual labour over time.
Researchers argue that many households are now caught in a survival trap: they leave their farms to earn quick money through ganyu, but the low income earned is often not enough to buy adequate food, fertilizer, healthcare, transport, or school needs.
The report also highlights how shrinking land ownership is changing rural livelihoods.
According to the findings, the amount of food households consume from their own production has dropped sharply from 63 percent to 47 percent over time.
At the same time, dependence on purchased maize has risen dramatically from 26 percent to 44 percent, showing how more families are now relying on markets to survive rather than producing enough food themselves.
The study concludes that Malawi's rural economy is slowly moving away from traditional subsistence farming and becoming increasingly dependent on labour and food markets.
Researchers are now urging policymakers to stop assuming that most rural households can still survive mainly through small-scale farming.
Agriculture economist Steve Kayira warned that the situation is worsening poverty among already vulnerable families.
He said rising prices of food, fertilizer, transport, healthcare, and education are making it nearly impossible for households dependent on ganyu to improve their living standards.
"There is need for stronger investment in rural non-farm economies through small enterprise development, rural industries, skills training, and value addition initiatives that create more stable and productive employment than ganyu," Kayira said.
He also stressed the need to improve agricultural productivity through irrigation farming, affordable farm inputs, extension services, climate-smart agriculture, and access to rural financial services.
Agriculture research and extension expert Leonard Chimwaza said the findings should help guide future poverty reduction programmes in Malawi.
According to Chimwaza, people with small land sizes and low agricultural productivity need sustainable economic empowerment initiatives instead of temporary handouts.
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"There is need to initiate resilient and economic empowerment programmes, but also promote small-scale farming programmes targeting people with limited land holdings," he said.
The findings come at a time when Malawi continues to struggle with serious hunger and food insecurity.
Last month, the country was ranked 95th out of 123 countries in the 2025 Global Hunger Index, highlighting stalled progress in the fight against hunger despite years of interventions.
Malawi scored 22.0 on the hunger index, remaining in the "serious" hunger category with little improvement from previous years.
The Ministry of Agriculture has previously acknowledged that overdependence on maize production remains one of the major drivers of food insecurity in the country.
But the new study now suggests that beyond maize dependence, the deeper crisis may be that millions of rural Malawians are no longer able to survive from farming itself -- forcing them into low-paying ganyu work that keeps them trapped in poverty year after year.
