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It is estimated that up to 84% of Malawians earn their livelihoods directly from agriculture - it contributes over 90% to export earnings, 40% to GDP and accounts for 85% of total employment. While the advent of democratisation in May 1994 provided a rare opportunity to address the chronic imbalances in the patterns of land ownership and distribution, the major development strategies that the government has since implemented have shied away from addressing the land question.The Community Based Rural Land Development Programme (CBRLDP) stands out as the most significant intervention that has been implemented in postcolonial Malawi to address the highly unequal land ownership patterns. This paper examines the impact of this programme for the successful implementation of future land reform initiatives.The study demonstrates that success in promoting pro-poor growth and development is not merely a matter of conjuring good institutions - their design and implementation critically depends on agents and agencies to implement them. Key policy implications include: land reforms without a well-thought-out supportive infrastructure in the short to medium terms are unlikely to be sustainable. This is to say that land reform is more than just access to land: it must be accompanied by access to non-land assets; access to credit; access to extension services; and training of beneficiaries in modern farming techniques the functioning of other markets such as transport, output, labour and financial are critical for households to maximise the benefits from access to land and improved tenure security. Reforms of this nature are therefore unlikely to generate substantial benefits in terms of investments, incomes and sustainable livelihoods without the accompanying financial assistance to farmers through access to other agricultural inputssuch as fertilisers and improved seeds a gender-balanced selection of beneficiaries would enhance the positive impact of the CBRLDP. The participation of female headed households in the CBRLDP is limited yet the economic analysis reveals that male headed households invest less in hybrid maize production compared to femaleheaded households. The level of education of households is also important. The higher the level of education of the household the higher the uptake of modern technology such as hybrid maize and chemical fertiliser the range of stakeholders involved matters in determining outcomes, successes and failures. Understanding the interface between formal and informal institutions in the context of the reforms is vital particularly in terms of anticipating and dealing with unexpected consequences.
