The Minister of Defence, Dr. Feston Kaupa, has announced a major transformation of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF), positioning it as a key driver of national development through the Malawi National Service (MNS).
Speaking in Parliament, Kaupa said the initiative reflects a shift from viewing defence as a consumer of public resources to a development-enabling institution.
The MNS, gazetted in 2023 and now fully operational, is expected to support national priorities in line with Malawi 2063 by addressing challenges such as food insecurity, unemployment, and environmental vulnerability.
The minister said the MNS is already contributing to food production through large-scale farming.
For example, Dr. Kaupa indicated that during the 2025/2026 season, MDF cultivated hundreds of hectares of maize and produced an estimated 2,744 metric tonnes, which is being supplied to institutions like the National Food Reserve Agency and the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation.
Livestock farming is also expanding across its farms nationwide.
In infrastructure development, the MNS is operating through its construction arm, delivering building and road projects while partnering with institutions such as the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Mzuzu University to strengthen technical capacity.
The service has also played a role in disaster response, including search and rescue operations during floods in Nkhotakota.
Looking ahead, government plans to expand the MNS into mining, manufacturing, and security services to boost economic productivity, reduce illegal mining, and create jobs.
Additional agricultural initiatives such as fish farming on Lake Malawi and irrigation expansion are also in progress.
Kaupa said the reforms will help the Defence Force generate its own resources while contributing directly to economic growth, adding that the Malawi National Service is set to become a key pillar in the country’s development agenda.
