President Chakwera’s ambition is to feed Africa

* ATM is a strategy that can accord the country to move into mechanisation and commercialisation

* We need to put emphasis on the ATM strategy so that we move from subsistence farming to commercialisation

By Abel Ikiloni, MANA in Rome, Italy

President Lazarus Chakwera says his government has confidence to turn Malawi into an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation which is well industrialised to become an upper & middle income economy.

Chakwera made the assurance after meeting Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Rome, Italy, saying he will make sure that agriculture becomes a big business in Malawi by utilising water from Lake Malawi for irrigation and create more mega farms to address El Niño which brought hunger in the country.

He emphasised on the agriculture, tourism and mining (ATM) as a strategy that can accord the country to move into mechanisation and commercialisation: “We need to put emphasis on the ATM strategy so that we move from subsistence farming to commercialisation.

“Smallholder farmers can be in groups and cooperatives and be empowered so that we can have more products and then add value to such products. We have industries across the country for the products.”

He said it has been tough for Malawi with the effects of climate change, hence the need for deliberate efforts on irrigation adding that all the irrigation schemes that were no longer functional have been resuscitated and new ones have built.

With the help of the World Bank and development partners, Malawi expects to have one of the largest irrigation schemes in Southern Africa, the Shire Valley Transformation Programme’s canal being constructed from Chikwawa up to Nsanje.

About 5.7 million people this year have affected by hunger and in his remarks, FAO Director General, QU Dongyu, thanked President Chakwera for his commitment to addressing issues of climate change thereby averting hunger and added that FAO is committed to supporting Malawi in irrigation.

Yesterday, President Chakwera met with Pope Francis, leader of the Catholic Church, in Vatican City State before being accorded an audience with Cardinal Secretary of State of the Vatican, Eminence Pietro Parolin, where they discussed a number of issues concerning between the two countries.

After the meetings, which were held in camera, the Malawi leader toured several places within the Vatican building Apostolico including the Holy City monuments where many notable people of influence in the Bible were laid to rest. One of the notable people buried there is St. Peter.

In an interview, Presidential Advisor on Religious Affairs, Rev. Brian Kamwendo described the meeting with the Pope as important: “This means a lot to us. President Chakwera, being a leader who is serving the nation that is highly religious in which the Catholic Church comprises of a big demography.

“We can see the collaboration between the State and faith are uniting Malawians and prospering together in relation to the vision of the President,” he said.

Meanwhile, the President was at the Headquarters of the Community of Saint Egidio this morning for discussions with its President, Professor Marko Impagliazzo.

Saint Egidio implements the DREAM programme in Malawi which impacts positively on the lives of Malawians, among its many interventions in reaching out to the underprivileged in Malawi.

The charity, The Community of Sant’Egidio, is a lay Catholic association dedicated to social service and was founded in 1968 under the leadership of Andrea Riccardi and was named after Saint Giles.

Currently operational in 73 countries, its headquarters is inside the Saint Egidio Community in Rome, a few Kilometres from The Vatican.

The meeting comes after the Italian government announced increased funding to the tune of about K6 trillion to support some selected countries in Africa, including Malawi, through various interventions.