Impact Of Technological Innovation On Agro-Processing Small And Medium Enterprise Growth In Malawi

Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs),especially those involved in agro-processing in Malawi play a very important role as the economy is heavily dependent on agriculture.However,only few of these SMEs have adopted technological innovation.With this in mind,the aim of this study was to investigate how technological innovation impact on the growth of agro-processing SMEs in Malawi.A sample of three hundred(300)owners of agro-processing SMEs drawn from the south,central and north of Malawi were selected using a purposive sampling method.Purposive sampling was used to get only those SMEs,which had adopted technological innovation.Data was collected through questionnaire for agro-processing SMEs.Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics.Results show that Agriculture sector account for more than 30% of Malawi?s GDP,the study shows that 96% of SMEs who were part of the research concluded that technology plays a big role in SME performance and SMEs using technology stand a higher chance to compete with other SMEs and bigger companies.The study concludes that there is a positive relationship between technological innovation(product and process)and growth of SME businesses in Malawi.It further showed that level of education and training of SMEs and their employees plays a role in technological absorption by SMEs.SMEs who are better educated were more likely to acquire modern technologies in operations compared to those with basis education.