AGCOM phase-2 to expand climate smart irrigation to ensure all-year farming for 100,000 farmers

* As Government, World Bank signs US$45 million AGCOM phase-2 program in Lilongwe yesterday

* The grant is sourced from a multi-donor trust fund through Norway, Ireland, the European Union, and the Government of Flander

By Patience Longwe, MANA

The World Bank and the Malawi Government have signed a US$45 million (MK80 billion) grant agreement for the implementation of Phase 2 of the Malawi Food Systems Resilience Program under the Agricultural Commercialisation (AGCOM) programme.

The grant, sourced from a multi-donor trust fund through Norway, Ireland, the European Union, and the Government of Flanders, is set to expand climate smart irrigation to ensure all-year farming for 100,000 farmers.

It will also ensure provision of drug resistance seeds, to link farmers to markets through unlocking value chains, agricultural technologies, processes and value addition and inclusivity for women and youths, said Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale during the signing ceremony at Capital Hill in Lilongwe.

He thanked the donors, Ireland, Norway, EU and Flanders, through the World Bank for the support towards the agricultural sector, saying Malawi is facing huge climate change impacts that calls for action and — hence the support from the donors through AGCOM is timely.

“The support will empower over 60,000 farmers and increased to over 40% yield and promoted agricultural reforms in the first phase. It will further rehabilitate over 60,000 hectares of land from farmers.

He added that as a Minister, he will ensure accountability of the resources and provide real time monitoring to ensure all funds are used prudently so that in the end, there will be no Malawian should die of hunger.

Kawale further said the Ministry will also engage private sectors such as banks to provide farmers with friendly soft loans to transform the agricultural sector and make agriculture a commercial entity.

The AGCOM phase 2 project will target over 100,000 households (approximately 700,000) beneficiaries — whose first phase was launched in 2023 and will run up to 2029 with a total funding of US$326 million.

At the signing ceremony, World Bank Country Manager for Malawi, Firas Raad, said the Multi-Donor-Trust funds aim to increase resilience of food systems and the country’s preparedness for food insecurity in project areas and respond to crisis or emergencies.

Raad said the additional funding has come following the successful implementation of AGCOM 1 which focused on resilience of food systems and the country’s preparedness for food insecurity.

“We decided to mobilise this support for this program, particularly due to the successful implementation of AGCOM 1,” he said. “So, this funding will promote the agricultural commercialisation agenda and scale up ongoing activities but also finance new activities to achieve productivity and economic growth,” Raad said.

Present was Minister of Finance, Simplex Chithyola Banda, who described the grant as an economic breather towards achieving productivity to alleviate poverty among Malawians.

He said the country has Public Financial Management Act and hence they will ensure that the money is put to good use to serve its purpose, saying the support towards commercialising agriculture, focusing on productivity, also goes well with the agriculture, tourism and mining (ATM) strategy — “which is a fundamental pillar towards growth”.

Meanwhile, the government’s ATM strategy will be a game-changer for Malawi’s economy, attracting much-needed foreign investment, creating jobs, and driving economic growth — and thus expressed satisfaction with the performance of donors in promoting Malawi’s produce in international markets.

He said this in Parliament yesterday when he was responding to a question from Member of Parliament (MP) for Kasungu North, Mike Bango, who sought to know if the president was satisfied with the performance of Malawi’s diplomats in security international markets for the country’s produce.

Chakwera said he remains confident that the ATM strategy will pay dividends, saying: “The strategy has already been incorporated into the 2024/2025 budget, with allocations made to support agricultural projects, tourism development, and mining initiative.”

He added that the government’s vision is to transform Malawi into an industrialised, self- reliant nation with a robust upper-middle-income economy, as enshrined in the MW2063 national vision.

“The ATM strategy is central to achieving this goal, and the president is urging all Malawians to prioritize these sectors,” he said, adding that as Malawi continues to navigate its economic challenges, the success of the ATM strategy will be crucial.

And with foreign investment, job creation, and economic growth all hanging in the balance, the government will be keen to ensure that this initiative delivers.

MP Bango had highlighted the country’s long-standing struggle with forex shortages, which he attributed to inadequate exports to countries where Malawi has diplomatic ties.—Reporting from Parliament by Leonard Masauli, MANA; editing by Maravi Express