The Department of Agriculture Planning Services (DAPS) successfully piloted the National Agriculture Management Information System (NAMIS) in 12 districts during the initial phase of the ASWAP II project, with funding from the World Bank and in collaboration with the Centre for Resilience Agri-Food Systems (CRAFS) at the University of Malawi. NAMIS provides timely, high-quality information and services to all stakeholders in the agriculture sector. 

The pilot phase revealed the need for further development and system enhancements to improve efficiency and streamline processes. DAPS is committed to building staff capacity in NAMIS development, management, administration, and usage as the initiative scales up. CRAFS is hosting a NAMIS technical assistant to support this critical work. The technical assistant works closely with Ministry staff to strengthen the system and ensure the successful transfer of skills and knowledge to the Ministry personnel.

Key activities include configuring the Farmer Household Register, a tool for registering farmers across Malawi within NAMIS. Additionally, in-house capacity-building on NAMIS configuration, server administration with ICT staff, system usage training for district planning officers, and providing end-user support to various system users have been conducted.

From September 9-14, 2024, the NAMIS Technical Assistant participated in a data-cleaning exercise at Blue Waters in Salima. This effort focused on balancing data sets collected during a nationwide farmer registration by the Centre for Agricultural Research & Development (CARD) at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in preparation for uploading the data into NAMIS. The activity involved participants from all districts within Malawi's Agricultural Development Divisions (ADDs). It included representatives from various departments in the Ministry of Agriculture, including ICT, DAPS, Statistics, and e-Government.