Situation on the ground in many parts of the country
* Implemented through maize distribution and cash transfers—Minister Kunkuyu
* Emphasised the need for Malawi to graduate from financing subsistence farming to agricultural commercialisation
By Patricia Kapulula, MANA
Minister of Information & Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu, government has put in place interventions on the current food insecurity situation — implemented through maize distribution and cash transfers.
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Kunkuyu, who is also government spokesperson, made the remarks at a press briefing at Central Office of Information (COI) in Lilongwe on Tuesday on the status of the 2023/2024 lean season food insecurity response programme (LSFIRP).
The Malawi vulnerability assessment committee (MVAC) 2023 report indicated that 4.4 million people will be food insecure and in need of food assistance during the 2023/2024 consumption year.
“In response to the projection, government, through the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and in collaboration with humanitarian partners, facilitated development of the 2023/2024 LS-FIRP to mobilise resources and effectively coordinate the programme to address needs of food insecure people,” Kunkuyu said.
Minister Kunkuyu
The exercise, which started in October 2023, has so far reached out to 4,375,448 food insecure people with either maize or cash and DoDMA Commissioner, Charles Kalemba said they are working hard to ensure deserving beneficiaries are reached out with either maize or cash.
Meanwhile, Kunkuyu emphasised the need for Malawi to graduate from financing subsistence farming to agricultural commercialisation if the country is to attain the much needed food security at national level.
He said the country is going towards that direction through provision of agriculture loans to farmers, as well as establishment of mega farms.
“We are now giving agricultural loans to farmers through National Economic Empowerment Fund (NEEF),” he said. “These were farmers who were benefitting from the agricultural inputs programme (AIP).”
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He added that the AIP is undergoing reforms and, as such, the number of beneficiaries keep changing in order to allow farmers graduate from subsistence to commercial farmers.
In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) during the opening of the 2024/2025 National Budget session in Parliament, President Lazarus Chakwera said his administration is committed to redesign AIP to make it more targeted on those who are able to achieve food security with it.
The programme targeted 1.5 million farmers, with land holding sizes of 0.25 hectares to two hectares, to benefit in the 2023/2024 growing season and are expected to produce 1,125,000 metric tonnes, contributing to over 32% of the national grain requirement.
Meanwhile, the Greenbelt Greenhouse Limited (GGL) says it has now started reaping fruits of agriculture commercialisation after exporting 70 tons of bell pepper to South Africa since November 2023 and realising about US$65,000.
GGL’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Tamandani Chanza said the company is making significant strides that will go a long way in contributing to forex generation in Malawi.
“Today we are exporting three tons of bell pepper to South Africa where we have secured markets. This trip is the 26th in four months and that should show you that we are quite serious with the venture,” Chanza said.
Asked on how GGL managed to stay competitive on South African market, considering that the country is a major food and vegetable producer and exporter globally, Chanza was quick to point out that as a company they are very serious on quality control, starting from the greenhouses to processing and packaging.
“Everything is precise and regulated in the pumphouse, starting from the amount of water, fertilizer, and pesticide that each plant gets. And even the amount of light that the plants get is regulated to make sure the plant gets only what it needs to have quality produce; that way, no market would reject our product.”
Commenting on the development, agriculture production manager for the Greenbelt Authority (GBA), Mesiah Moleni disclosed that at first they had challenges with securing markets, as they were only supplying to local markets.
“With the South Africa deal, we are hopeful to penetrate more external markets. We are in talks with Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana. I must say as an authority we are satisfied with what GGL is doing,” Moleni said.
Apart from forex, GGL has also contributed to job creation in the country, having employed about 130 Malawians.
In his SONA President Chakwera also emphasised that agriculture commercialisation was one of the sure ways of getting Malawi out of the economic challenges experienced in 2023.—Additional reporting by Donald Zimba, MANA
