CAMA accuses edible cooking oil manufacturers of blackmailing consumers and Government

* ”Manufacturers have for a long time preferred to import crude oil materials from the Eastern countries” * “And always at high prices than using local raw materials grown by our farmers” * “Throughout the past years, Malawi was producing its own cooking oils using its own local raw materials” * “We all recall Unilever or Lever Brothers used to produce COVO and Kazinga with linkages to our local farmers” * “The full name of the acronym for COVO…

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Government to enforce restriction on mass live chickens distribution by large poultry producers to protect small scale businesses

Minister of Trade Sosten Gwengwe * All distribution and retailing to small scale Malawian traders and farmers * A restriction that seeks to safeguard an inclusive growth of the entire poultry value chain * Police to monitor movements of the poultry mobile vans * Those who will not comply risk having their vans impounded By Duncan Mlanjira From Monday, August 23, the Ministry of Trade will start enforcing Business Licencing (Travel Wholesale and Distribution Licence) that restricts large poultry…

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UK Government satisfied with adaptation and resilience interventions in Balaka through Prosper Project

Annie-Marie Trevelyan visited Malawi last week * Project empowering communities to rehabilitate land that was once deforested into a productive farm land * The interventions that have contributed to improved living standards of the programme beneficiaries By Mary Makhiringa, MANA United Kingdom Minister of Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change, Annie-Marie Trevelyan has expressed satisfaction in the way people in Balaka are implementing adaptation and resilience projects which the UK Government is supporting.   Trevelyan, who was on a…

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Malawian private tree seedlings developer diversifying more on fruit trees with California Papaya

It starts bearing fruit as young as this * This variety is very commercially viable as it starts fruiting within 9 months of planting * With proper husbandry one can get 90+ fruits per fruiting season per plant By Duncan Mlanjira Malawian passionate private tree seedlings developer, Mapopa William Banda, who diversified by raising fruit tree seedlings, has added high yield California Papaya (pawpaw), which is ready for sale. He says the California papaya variety is very commercially viable…

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Othakarhaka Charity Foundation taking palliative health care to another level; Moving from home-based care to facility based

Founder Ida Puliwa Mwango and her husband Ted in the dedicated treatment room * Othakarhaka came to national spotlight when it won the grand prize of K5.5 million  #Sisonke best short video documentary * The competition #Sisonke was organised by Old Mutual Malawi from April * One wing of its huge office complex to be a fully fledged health facility * Complete with a lab, a pharmacy, consultation and treatment rooms * It has a dedicated number of close…

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Universities join hands to create Biodiversity for Malawi 2063 research plans

* NPC Director General Munthali implores on researchers to design projects in line with MW2063 * Top brains of the country are driving in the same direction as that of NPC’s MW2063 * Conference jointly organised by MUST; KUHeS; MUBAS * In collaboration with Future Africa Institute; University of Pretoria and Carnegie Corporation of New York, USA By Duncan Mlanjira National Planning Commission (NPC) Director General Dr. Thomas Munthali has applauded Malawi universities for joining hands to organise a…

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Small scale farmers encouraged to seriously consider growing bananas

* Passionate with banana growing, Lilongwe small scale farmer attests it is big business * It takes about 10 months to start seeing the first fruit but its always nice to see the plantation grow and change * It’s possible to earn through sell of suckers before the fruits and then of course the fruits By Duncan Mlanjira Joseph Nkhoma, a civil servant working as veterinary medicine expert in the Department of Animal Health and Livestock Development in Lilongwe,…

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Malawi Watershed Improved Program project trains agricultural advisors on sustainable land and environmental conservation management

The training session at Zomba Residential Training Centre * To impart same knowledge gained to farmers at their respective work stations * They are expected to continuously engage with farmers in what is called Farmers Field School approach * The project is meant to improve farmers livelihoods of the districts in the Shire Valley Basin By Duncan Mlanjira Agricultural advisors from the Shire Valley Basin have undergone an extensive five-week training on, among others, sustainable soil and land as…

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Government to lay out measures ensuring production of quality agricultural produce for export — Chakwera

President Chakwera in Mangochi on Sunday By Kondwani Magombo, MANA President Lazarus Chakwera says farmers in the country do not realize enough money from their agricultural produce due to rushed sales which compromise quality. Thus he says, his administration would lay out some measures to ensure that the country produces quality agricultural produce for export. He made the remarks on Sunday afternoon in Mangochi, saying the problem is that “everyone is free to buy or sell crop produce most…

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Smallholder farmers earning better returns from their produce through value chains under Agricultural Commercialization project

* The farmers are now inspired to think beyond the box on value added farming processes to produce more and better commodities By Duncan Mlanjira Through capacity building and technical support that Agricultural Commercialization (AGCOM) project empowers rural smallholder and medium scale food crop farmers, they are now earning better returns than before. This was said by AGCOM’s National Coordinator Teddie Nakhumwa at a business breakfast at Marriott Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre on Friday that Ministry of Trade and…

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