Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwe has advised cooperative farmers in Chikwawa to consider advancing their agricultural produce into value additional.
The Minister made the remarks on Monday when he visited Shire Valley Transformation Program where he appreciated the progress of the project.
Speaking to Journalists after the tour, Gwengwe said that this is the time as a country to encourage our farmers to do value additional saying this has the potential to increase the forex in the country.
According to the Minister, he is worried about seeing the neighbouring countries, citing examples of Mozambique and Tanzania, among other countries, to export more valuable products into our country, which he said can only be done by farmers in the country.
“It is the wish of President Chakwera to end hunger in the country. But the model that we build should be the one that benefits the local farmers in Chikwawa,” he said.
On his part, the Board Chairperson of Mwanalirenji Cooperative Robert Makiyoni said that all activities marking the beginning of cooperative farming is ready only waiting for Shire Valley Transformation Program to provide them with water come June, 2025.
Makiyoni further said that so far, the World Bank has given the cooperative a K10 billion grant out of K14 billion, which the cooperative tentatively planned for, and has a deficit of K4 billion, which he has asked other well-wishers to bail them out.
According to Makiyoni, the Mwanalirenji cooperative has set aside five crops to grow under the Shire Valley Transformation Program, including Maize, soybeans, Peppers and Cotton.
The Shire Valley Transformation Program, which is now at 70 per cent construction under phase one with 36.5km out of the total 52km, for the past few weeks, was affected by the fuel challenges, but now, with the intervention from the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU), supply of fuel has resumed as a priority project.
15 Cooperatives, of which 2 are livestock Cooperatives, have been established and legally registered with the Ministry of Trade and Industry in phase 1. These comprise 16,175 members, while phase 2, which is livestock Cooperatives, is implementing trade activities.
Over 43,370 hectares will be irrigated through the project, but for phase 1, which has 13 Cooperatives, 10,656 hectares will be used. This translates to 48,400 farming households are expected to benefit from the initiative.
Mwanalirenji, Kambadwe and Mantchombe Cooperatives will be the first three Cooperatives to start benefiting from this initiative come June next year as their farmlands are within a radius of 20km away from the intake where water will start flowing into their fields.
Shire Valley Transformation Program, which is a flagship project in Southern Africa, is financially supported by the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the government of Malawi, among other donor development partners.
By Macmillan Mozeyo
