Chakwera at his meeting with chairperson for AGRA, Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe
* Need for Malawi to depart from rain fed agriculture to irrigation in order to respond to climate change shocks
* Our work is to have a sustainable production system given the climate change calamities and vulnerabilities
By Patricia Kapulula in Nairobi, Kenya
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has pumped in US$45 million to help in promoting agricultural productivity, soil health, use of fertilizer and conservation in order to help the country produce enough thereby achieving food and nutrition security.
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At a press briefing with Malawi journalists in Nairobi, Kenya after President Lazarus Chakwera held an audience with AGRA officials, Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale said the funds would be made available to Malawi for a period of five years targeting value chains that would bring more money to the country.
“Partners have pledged support in different ways,” he said. “We met International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) which we work with in irrigation. There is a US$5 million package that has already been secured to help us in soil management to increase productivity.”
Kawale said the country is not food and nutrition secure because soil nutrition has been depleted — hence the need to put in place mechanisms for soil management and the funding secured would help achieve that.
Chairperson for AGRA, Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe said Malawi is endowed with huge natural resources, hence the need for the country to depart from rain fed agriculture to irrigation in order to respond to climate change shocks.
“Our work is to have a sustainable production system given the climate change calamities and vulnerabilities,” he said. “We are launching a programme on sustainable farming which talks of how to improve soil, land and soil degradation as well as deforestation.”
AGRA — a Pan African institution which works on inclusive agriculture transformation in Africa and Malawi is one of the 16 African countries in its programme — is investing in a youth programme that will create 250,000 jobs in agriculture, agribusiness and food systems.
In Malawi, AGRA has trained agriculture professionals on agronomy and breeding.
Meanwhile, the government has also secured funding from a European company to invest back into Malawi by channeling resources towards a programme for treating high acidity levels in soils.
Chakwera disclosed this during an event dubbed ‘Malawi Ready’, saying the company, which buys agricultural produce from Malawi, has moved with speed because it understands the urgency of the situation.
“It is not just for us as a nation interested in regularising our food production capacity but also for them as a foreign agricultural investor interested in securing a share in Malawi’s unbeatable advantage in becoming a future bread basket for a world in which many countries in the West and East will not be able to sustain their national food needs without support from countries like Malawi,” he said.
He added that the dividends realised from Malawi’s soil acidity cured by the implementation of the 10-year action plan in soil health is important in as far as addressing soil acidity is concerned.
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“The US$163 million investment needed is extremely small compared to the time to get the skin in the game,” he said and on his part, Minister Kawale said the event is important in addressing soil health issues in order for Malawi to achieve food sustainability.
Malawi’s partners in the agriculture sector have expressed commitment to work with government in scaling up initiatives in the 10-year fertiliser and soil health action plan in order for Malawi to become a champion of Southern Africa, thereby achieving food security.
Chakwera left Nairobi today and aside the AFSH summit, he held bilateral talks with Kenya President William Ruto.
