Malawians should promote SMEs as their primary target for business is the local market—Gwengwe

* Our moral responsibility as Malawians is to promote our own SMEs and cooperatives and this should start by buying their products

* When we buy imported goods, we are promoting SMEs from other countries

* And at the same time we are creating jobs for people outside Malawi at the expense of our fellow Malawians

By Salome Gangire, MANA

In reiterating the national slogan of ‘Buy Malawian’, Minister of Trade & Industry, Sosten Gwengwe urges the citizenry to promote small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives by buying their products, emphasising that their primary target for business is the local market.

He was speaking on Tuesday in Neno when he visited three farming cooperatives in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Symon under UMODZI Consulting Limited.

The Minister maintained that there was need to provide good market for locally produced goods other than buying imported goods, saying: “Our moral responsibility as Malawians is to promote our own SMEs and cooperatives and this should start by buying their products.

“When we buy imported goods, we are promoting SMEs from other countries and at the same time we are creating jobs for people outside Malawi at the expense of our fellow Malawians.”

The Minister gave an example of Kenya where its cooperative movement is huge because they support one another by buying locally produced goods.

Gwengwe said government would make sure that Malawians buy locally produced and manufactured goods through the Buy Malawi campaign and he urged farmers to form cooperatives and adopt integrated farming systems and to venture into value addition for easy markets and profit making.

Under Department of Cooperatives, Gwengwe said his Ministry is training farmers, putting them in cooperatives so that they should produce quality goods in large quantities: “I am impressed with the quality and variety of crops grown by the farmers at the cooperatives and I am glad that the cooperative movement is not only transforming the nutrition status of the people but also their livelihood.”

The Minister disclosed that government would table the amendment of the  Control of Goods Act in the September, 2024 Parliament sitting in order to make regulations on the list of products that could be put under licence to promote industries that should in turn create more jobs.

On her part, Linda Ndovi — United States African Development Foundation (USADF) country programmes coordinator said USADF work with SMEs and cooperatives that are doing value addition in the agri-business sector and the youth, among others and she emphasised the importance of employing environmentally friendly farming techniques.

Chairperson of Matembe Cooperative Producers Ltd, Mighty Feremu said Livelihood Improvement Project (LIP) helps them to improve nutrition status of people in the area as they grow a variety of crops and rearing livestock.

He said the agricultural activities improved cooperative members livelihood as they sell crops and buy shares in the cooperative. He asked the Ministry of Trade & Industry to help them get registered with the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) so that they are able to supply their goods to big markets and chain stores.

Matembe is part of the 14 cooperatives in Neno District under the Livelihood Improvement Project (LIP) being implemented by Umodzi Consulting with funding from Helmsley Charitable Trust — through the United States African Development Foundation (USADF).

Over 4,417 participants in the 14 cooperatives benefit from the project in the district of which 2,268 are patients suffering from non-communicable diseases.

Minister Gwengwe lauded the SMEs under USADF programme for demonstrating seriousness towards sustainable livelihood improvement through agriculture, emphasising that cooperatives and SMEs are the way to go if Malawi is to grow economically.

The US$4.5 million USADF programme is unique because it uses a whole farm business approach with the aim of delivering sustainable farming and increased incomes for local population with priority given to individuals with chronic diseases and their families.

The objectives 14 beneficiary cooperatives that were all trained by the Ministry of Trade & Industry, include improve patient outcomes through improved diet diversification, nutrition & incomes, improved livelihoods through increased skills in value addition and development of market networks & trade activities.

It is also aimed at improving resilience through the promotion of climate smart technologies that will improve resilience by the targeted community.

Meanwhile, the Minister proceeded to Blantyre where he presided over an engagement with Southern Region SMEs to highlight benefits they can get from the Malawi Food System Resilience Programme under the Agriculture Commercialisation (AGCOM) 2 project.

Held at Sunbird Mount Soche, Gwengwe challenged agriculture commodity off-takers, processors, exporters, anchor farmers, aggregators, and SMEs to take advantage of the AGCOM grants to enhance value addition — which will see Malawi shifting from being a predominantly consuming and importing economy to a producing and exporting one.

He encouraged the off-takers, processors and exporters, saying they provide essential market linkages for farmers most of whom benefited from the World Bank-funded AGCOM 1 and are in mass agricultural production.

He added that the Ministry’s special focus on agriculture commodity off-takers, processors, exporters, anchor farmers, aggregators and SMEs is to unlock for their full potential, taking cognizance that Malawi’s agricultural sector employs a significant portion of the workforce and contributes greatly to the national income.

“The AGCOM project is a pivotal initiative designed to bridge this gap and propel our agricultural sector towards greater commercialisation. My Ministry’s vision is to expand trade at both local and international levels and to achieve this, the country needs to produce and add value through various manufacturing processes.”

The Minister impressed on the SMEs of the need to add value to agricultural produce in order to compete favourably on the export market and “the AGCOM project is, therefore, a key intervention to drive this change in our country”.

The World Bank accepted to fund the Malawi Food System Resilience Program (MFSRP) under AGCOM 2 — which is a  6-year project worth US$329 million and was launched by President Lazarus Chakwera in Ntchisi in November last year.—Additional reporting by Maravi Express