Malawi is a low-income country where the majority of the population live and work in subsistence
agriculture. In this setting, it is important to understand the effect of education – which is
generally considered as a pathway out of poverty – on people’s livelihoods. The effect of education
on subsistence agricultural production has been estimated in many different settings but no studies
have dealt with the endogenous nature of education in the production process. This paper contributes
to the literature by estimating the causal effect of education on subsistence agricultural productivity
in Malawi. To estimate the causal effect of education in agricultural production, a two-stage least
squares approach is used, using the introduction of free primary education and the age of paternal
orphanhood as two instrumental variables (IV) for education. The causal effect of education on the
earnings of the employed is also estimated to gain a deeper understanding of the role that education
plays in rural Malawi. This paper finds that there are positive returns to education in agricultural
productivity, specifically in maize production and, the total value of all produce. Returns to education
are higher in the earnings sector though. An interpretation of the results as a local average
treatment effect suggests free primary education attracted students with lower returns to education
while paternal orphanhood caused students with higher returns to exit school.