Malawi’s Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Kondwani Nankhumwa says the country has made strides in agriculture.
Nankhumwa made the remarks on Thursday during a ministerial session of the third ordinary session of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee (stc) on agriculture, rural development, water and environment.
“We have aligned of our National Agriculture Policy (2016) and National Agriculture Investment Plan (2017) to all the continental agriculture development frameworks and instruments. We have also allocated more financial resources to the sector in line with both the Maputo (2003) and Malabo (2014) Declarations consistently,” he said.
The minister further said that the government has invested in irrigation, fisheries, aquaculture, crops, livestock, and water development.
He noted that a Centre of Excellence in Aquaculture and Fisheries has been established at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“Malawi has promoted Youth and Women empowerment programs in agriculture and has strengthened capacity for the prevention and control of animal, plant diseases and pests of socio-economic importance,” he said.
According to the minister, despite the strides made in agriculture, Malawi’s food security has been affected by climate change manifested by droughts and floods.
“As a country we have not resigned to climate change fate as we are investing in resilience building to mitigate the effects of climate change now and in future,” Nankhumwa said.
He added the country is dedicated to abide to all agricultural policies and declarations.
