Mining & Trade News

Malawi’s multi-million dollar Agricultural Commercialization Project (AGCOM) is on course leveraging local agriculture through the promotion of agricultural value chain products.

Using an approach known as the Productive Alliance (PA), the US$95 million World Bank credit facility project links together producers, service providers and off-takers in different value chains.

AGCOM National Coordinator Dr. Teddie Nakhumwa said the project’s development objective is to increase commercialization and competitiveness of agricultural value chain products in crops, livestock and fisheries.

Dr. Nakhumwa explained that the project was developed to respond to some of critical problems facing the small and medium scale farmers such as poor access to organized markets, poorly organized farmers and farmer groups, poor access to competitively priced finance and poor market infrastructure.

AGCOM provides 70% matching grants for the purchase of capital equipment and also insures that farmers lend from commercial banks to finance operations by guaranteeing 70% of their loans. The project also provides public infrastructure through connecting producer organisations to power, irrigation and road infrastructure—in what is known as Last Mile Infrastructure.

“These interventions are aimed at transforming agriculture by increasing productivity and efficiency in scarce land and labour use,” said Dr. Nankhumwa adding that AGCOM also invests in capacity development and organizing producer organisations into cooperatives to operate at economies of scale.

The project only supports producer organization that have formal arrangements with off-takers to ensure they are producing for the market and therefore promoting business culture among small and medium scale farmers that do the bulk of the country’s production.

Dr Nankhumwa highlighted that the project has, meanwhile, made significant progress in putting the system and establishing all strategic documents to guide implementation such as: AGCOM matching grants manual, Risk management manual, Partial credit guarantee (PCG) manual, M&E Manual, Communication manual, Institutional and organisational development guidelines.

“To promote independence and transparency, the project established independent committees such as Independent Evaluation Committee (IEC) and Investment Committee to independently evaluate proposals submitted to AGCOM for matching grants and Patrial Credit Guarantee. These committees comprise members mainly from the private sector and a few from the public sector,” he said.

The project has also a Contingent Emergency Response Component, which can be triggered by Government to respond to natural disasters.  During the 2019 Cylone Idai flood disaster, the project provided US$20 million (US$7-million for maize purchase; US$7.5 million for rehabilitation of public irrigation schemes) among others, after government requested AGCOM for assistance.

Meanwhile, AGCOM has so far managed to approve 45 PAs, out of which, 25 have already paid the required 30 percent contribution and are already accessing funds from AGCOM for implementation of the sub-projects. Over 400 hectares of land for local and foreign investments have been identified to secure an enabling business environment for PAs

Nakhumwa, however, pointed that the project has also encountered numerous constraints such as optimal commitment for PAs to make the 30% contribution and aftermaths of Covid-19 pandemic that has delayed in delivering some strategic capacity building trainings.

Malawi’s tea is making positive strides on the world market as the Caduceus Cellars, owned by winemaker Maynard James Keenan, a Grammy award-winning vocalist for Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer, will feature five hand-crafted Malawian teas at his Jerome, Arizona Tasting Room in USA on December 28, 2020.

The teas to be featured include; Masala Chai, Lost Malawi English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Green Tea and Mint, as well as Lemon Blend tea,  and it is curated and blended by the United Kingdom’s Rare Tea Company and grown by Malawi’s Satemwa Tea and Coffee Estate.

According to Jordan Price, Malawi’s Honorary Consul in Texas –USA, the beverages are to be incorporated having perfectly complimented Caduceus’ award winning wines.

Price said: “As an Ambassador, I am excited Arizonans and international visitors to the historic mining town of Jerome, will experience the passion and dedication of Malawians through these delicious teas.”

He also disclosed that the sale of these teas will help fund school scholarships through the Rare Tea Company’s nonprofit arm, Rare Charity.

Caduceus Cellars Tasting Room Manager Brian Sullivan thanked Jordan Price Malawi’s Honorary Consul, for providing an enthusiastic introduction to Malawi.

Sullivan said: “I was fascinated by the information Hon. Consul Price shared about Malawi and tea farming. Later I researched the country on the internet and learnt that Malawi was the first country in Africa to grow tea commercially. Pointing me in the direction of the Rare Tea Company has also been a positive experience. They have been quite professional in their interactions and I am looking forward to continuing working with them going forward.”

Founder of Rare Tea Company, Henrietta Lovell, said, “Everything you know about wine is true of tea. The effects of the terroir are every bit as crucial, as is the harvesting and the crafting.  Great tea comes from great producers, in the same way that fine wine does. We source the best to bring you the greatest flavors.”

Alexander Cathcart Kay, owner of Satemwa Tea and Coffee Estate noted that high value teas have a direct impact on Satemwa’s ability to sustain its vision of improving the living standards of their employees and neighboring farmers.

The teas available at Caduceus Tasting Room include black teas grown on the estate and Fair Trade Spearmint and Lemon Verbena, grown by adjacent independent farmers.

He said, “It is exciting and gratifying to see Satemwa specialty teas find their way into high quality establishments like Caduceus. Satemwa has struggled to make progress in the US market over the years and the support received from the Malawi Embassy, through their Honorary Consul and the commitment of the Rare Tea Company makes an enormous difference.”

Founded in 1923, Satemwa is a third generation family owned tea and coffee estate in Malawi’s Shire Highlands which contributes to improved Malawian standards of living by crafting a unique line up of white, green, oolong, black, dark, and herbal teas. 

Price fluctuations are the major setback to the advancement of pigeon pea farming in Malawi, a representative group of the crop’s farmers the Nandolo Farmers Association of Malawi (NFAM) has said.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Mining and Trade Review, NFAM Chairperson Susan Chimbayo said that lack of profitable and reliable markets, insufficient finances and high interest rates are among the factors that derail the capacity of the crop to contribute enormously to the country’s economic growth.

Chimbayo explained that the marketing performance of the crop was greatly affected by import restriction cap set by the Indian government in 2018. With the cap in place, prices dropped to as low as MK30/kg until the Malawi government intervened, a development which saw prices rising to as high as MK230/kg in the 2019-2020 season.

 “Prices of pigeon peas from 2019 to 2020 have ranged from MK250 to MK365/kg. this has renewed farmers’ interest to grow the crop,” she said adding that the market condition has generated high demand on the market and thus makes prospects for 2021 lucrative.

She said farmers under the association benefit from a deliberate policy where registered members attract a premium of MK20-MK30 above market prices. “This means farmers under the association get better rewards compared to non-members.”

However, she said there is a need to put in place deliberate policies to encourage production of pigeon peas as well as protecting farmers from vendor exploitation through licensing and monitoring buyers.

“So far we are lobbying for an exporting quota to India so that Malawi can export raw and value-added pigeon peas as other countries like Tanzania and Mozambique do,” she said pointing out that the association and government can partner to promote value addition using processing plants which are currently lying idle across the country.

NFAM plans to establish a factory under Nandolo Trading Company. The company will be responsible for procurement and marketing of pigeon peas on behalf of farmers.

Chimbayo commended the market linkage the association has with Mozambique based Royal Group of Companies which has improved purchase prices of pigeon peas from MK50 to MK230.

The association is composed of pigeon pea growers aiming at achieving increased production as well as maximizing returns from pigeon pea production. It has about 10,682 members working in 33 member cooperatives in Southern Region of Malawi.

Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe has hailed Civil Society Agriculture Network (CISANET) for its meaningful contributions in developing the agricultural sector in the country.

Lowe made the remarks at Bingu International Convention Centre during the Agriculture Open Day organised by CISANET under the theme ‘Making Agriculture Work in Malawi.’

He said he was impressed with various programs and activities that the organisation holds saying their strategic priorities and the thematic areas align with those of the Ministry.

Lowe said: “I am happy to note that CISANET is already a reliable strategic partner that my Ministry continues to work with.”

“I appreciate CISANET’s efforts that aim at coordinating and fostering collaboration among non-state actors towards agricultural transformation.”

“Indeed as the CISANET slogan suggests ‘together we can make agriculture in Malawi vibrant’.”

He also advised all stakeholders in the sector to consider stocking themselves to see if they are making progress in the industry.

Lowe said continued monitoring and evaluation will help the player to gauge how far or close they are towards their intended destination in the sector.

He said it is of paramount importance to devise ways of getting to the top that every farmer in the country has been dreaming to so that their lives can be improved.

The minister also expressed acknowledgement on the challenges that are currently being faced in the sector and said it high time as a country we should start asking ourselves on what we do to promote food security.  

He said: “I do agree with CISANET that at the core of these challenges are the following questions: How do we increase access to markets for farmers? And how do we strengthen the resilience of the sector to weather and market shocks?”

“I would like to assure you that Government is aware of all these challenges, and working really hard to respond to them. As Government we are committed to respond to these challenges through sufficient budget allocations and policy implementation.”

Lowe urged civil society organisations in the country to continue collaborating with the government and also come forward to bring recommendations to government based on their work or experience from expatriates.

In her remarks, CISANET National Director Pamela Kuwali said she was delighted with the Minister’s openness to recommendations from the CSOs.

Kuwali said: “After meeting the minister we are very happy, especially this is not the first time we have met him. We have noted that every time we have been in his office he has been open. Each time we invite him to our events he shows up.

“We understand that the role of revamping the agriculture sector is not a one body duty. So his openness shows that he really cares for the sector.”

She also said holding of more agricultural events in country can help that policies are not only on paper but also on the ground.

Kuwali said the country needs to be harnessing the benefits from every project that it kick starts rather than being masters in paper work.

She said as CSOs working in agriculture they will continue pushing the government to consider revising the calendar on commencement of buying farm produces.

Kuwali said the country has the tendency of opening ADMARC doors very late, a practice that forces the farmers to be selling their products to unlicensed vendors.

Meanwhile, under Affordable Inputs Program (AIP) the Ministry of Agriculture has managed to sell a total of 165,784.40 Metric Tonnes (MT) of fertilizer representing 45%, translating to 1,657,844 farming household accessing fertilizer.

The Government has also sold seeds amounting to 8,744.44 MT representing 44%.

Malawi Milk Producers Association (MMPA) has expressed concern over low milk and dairy products consumption among Malawians.

The organization which is a mother body for all milk producers associations in the country says local milk intake has stagnated for over two years now which it says is a worrisome development to the local dairy products manufacturers.

Herbert Chagona MMPA National Director said in an interview that it was worrisome that most Malawians do not take milk and its products as part of their essential daily diet since they perceive it as a luxury.

According to Chagona, Malawi is the lowest milk consumer in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region where the highest milk consumer only consumes eight litres per year which he said is against World Health Organization’s recommended quantity of 100 litres per person per year.

Chagona explained that besides perceiving milk consumption as a luxury, there are also other prominent factors leading to the decline in dairy products consumption including high poverty levels which forces people to use their income on basic commodities.

He, however, asked Malawians to change their perception on milk and dairy products, which he said are crucial in human development.

Chagona also asked dairy products manufacturers to ensure that prices for their products are affordable to most poor Malawians.

“Most people think that milk and other dairy products are designed for the rich just because their prices are usually exorbitant. Let me therefore ask dairy products manufacturers to make prices of their commodities affordable to people with diverse economic strengths,” said Chagona

He also asked dairy products manufacturers to establish their industries in all parts of the country in order to make their products accessible to all people across the country.

Chagona expressed concern that the northern city of Mzuzu does not have any milk processing and dairy products manufacturing industry, despite that the region is one of the highest milk producers.

He said the unavailability of milk processors and dairy products manufacturers in the Northern Region forces farmers to sell their milk to vendors at very low prices.

” The establishment of dairy processing industries in the Northern Region would help dairy farmers have access to reliable markets, while providing people in that area with dairy products which are important to their health,” said Chagona.

MMPA recently imported dairy cattle and goats which were distributed to the organization’s members in a ploy to meet the demand for dairy products in Malawi.

MMPA was established to coordinate all dairy farmers in Malawi and provide them with technical skills on how best they can benefit from their work.

Rainy season is finally here, the time farmers are usually busy in their gardens growing various types of crops, for sale and consumption. But in Malawi, the number of tobacco growers during this year’s season has drastically gone down.

Malawi, whose economy is agro based has relied on tobacco as the main revenue earner for many years but for some time, the industry has been going down drastically, something that has affected the country’s economy.

Commentators say anti-smoking lobby championed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and poor market prices for the leaf are the major factors affecting the local tobacco industry.

Tobacco Commission’s (TC) recent report revealed that the number of farmers who registered to grow the leaf during 2020-2021 season had gone down by 15 percent, the development the organization described as worrisome and retrogressive to the development of the industry.  

The report explained that by September 30, 2020 only 45,000 farmers had registered to grow the green gold during 2020-2021 season, the figure which is lower compared with 53,000 farmers who registered in the previous season. TC extended the period to October 14, in a bid to woo more farmers and there was a slight improvement in the number of farmers who registered after the extension.

“The Commission extended registration and licensing period after realizing that the number of farmers who had registered previously was small. Extension of the period was done in a bid to entice more farmers for the exercise,” reads the report.

But some farmers have said, they are no longer interested in tobacco growing because the industry is no longer lucrative as it used to be previously, something they have majorly attributed to reduced market prices for the commodity. They have therefore said, instead of investing their energies in tobacco growing, they would invest it in the production of other crops that might benefit their families.

Farmer Hananiya Chimala of Mitundu in Lilongwe, said he has been in the industry for many years, but has never experienced the kind of nightmare they are facing these days. He said the many challenges faced have forced him to drop. He cited wretched market prices for the leaf as one of the major challenges faced.

“I have decided to quit tobacco farming because it is no longer paying me sufficiently as it used to be at the time I was joining. Generally, the industry started staggering soon after the World Health Organization (WHO) started the Anti-Smoking Lobby saying smoking is a health hazard,” said Chimala.

While Henderson Chinyama another farmer from Nathenje in the same district, accused buyers of favoring contract farmers than individuals, so he has decided to quit tobacco farming which he said is no longer reliable.

“I feel that we are cheated by our leaders, who cannot make solid decisions on tobacco pricing. Almost all the presidents we have had assured us that, they would do anything possible to improve the leaf prices but nothing is done to that effect so I am fed up with their rhetoric,” complained Chinyama.

Malawi realized K125 billion from the sales of 110 million Kilograms of the leaf in the just ended tobacco growing season.

Poultry Industry Association of Malawi (PIAM) has expressed worry over the increase in cases of illegal poultry importation, the conduct the institution says weighs on business for local farmers and government’s revenue collection.

PIAM, which is the mother body of all poultry associations in Malawi has expressed the concern following the increase in the number of cases of illegal importation of poultry and poultry products. The organization says, if the malpractice is not checked, it might have grave effects on local poultry industry and the national economy.

PIAM Technical Advisor Eric Chuma lamented the organization receives reports of people bringing into the country birds from other countries every week.

He said most people smuggling chickens into the country sell the birds at cheaper prices than those produced locally which negatively impacts on business for local farmers.

Chuma revealed that smugglers use unchartered routes thereby evading import duty which is a loss to the country in terms of revenue collection.

“As a country, we should vigilantly ensure that illegal poultry importation is halted. The practice is killing the local poultry industry and impacting negatively on collection of taxes,” said Chuma.

Most chickens are smuggled from Zambia and are locally offloaded in Lilongwe at Area 25, Mtandire, Mtsiliza and Kauma. While in the North, the birds are offloaded at Mzimba boma and Jenda.

Chuma, however, expressed optimism that the issue will be addressed saying his organization is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Police and Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) to arrest the situation.

He asked local consumers to support the local poultry industry which, he said, contributes about 11% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

There are also worries that illegal poultry importation may lead to transfer of infectious diseases into the country.

Meanwhile, PIAM has asked the Malawi Government to remove tax on the importation of products used in poultry production in order to support the local industry.

“PIAM believes that if products used in poultry farming are cheaper, cases of smuggling of chickens will be minimized because the local products will sell at cheaper prices compared to imports,” he said.

Police in Mchinji recently intercepted trucks smuggling poultry into Malawi from Zambia.

Government says it will work hand in hand with seed production company Seed Co. Malawi Limited to scale up the adoption of hybrids and improved seeds by the country’s famers to ensure higher yields.

Malawi lags behind in hybrid adoption by 37% in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region.

Speaking during the first Inaugural Annual Growers Meeting organized by Seed Co, Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe applauded Seed Co. as a key stakeholder in agriculture saying the company plays a very important role in achieving food sufficiency in Malawi.

Lowe described hybrid and improved seed as key catalysts to improved yields in Malawi that would help to increase the current production of 1.8MT per hectare to around 5MT per hectare, closing the gap to match the regional average of 5MT per hectare.

He said: “The importance of hybrid seed to food security in Malawi cannot be overemphasized. Hybrids and improved seed are key to improving farmer yields. Unfortunately, hybrid adoption in Malawi currently at 37% lags behind countries in the region.”

“This is the more reason Government has introduced Affordable Input Programme (AIP) where over 4,200,000 farming families will benefit.”

“The development will increase the hybrid adoption rate and it is expected that all things being equal, Malawi will have a bumper harvest.”

Lowe also disclosed that the Government through the Ministry is developing and formulating the Seed Policy and Seed Bill.

He said the bill is being development to curb the proliferation of fake seeds and protect smallholder farmers from exploitation by unscrupulous traders.

“I pledge close working relationship between the Ministry, the Private Sector and Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) active in the seed sector,” he said.

In his remarks, Seed Co. Managing Director Boyd Luwe said the conference was organized to act as a platform to address questions from people interested in seed multiplication business as well as informing them of what it takes to be awarded a contract in the industry.

He said Seed Co. brought into the conference six powerful presentations which tackled different aspects in the seed multiplication business.

The topics are: Meaning of Winning: -Farmer-Based Seed Multiplication Systems; Seed Production and Certification Systems in Malawi; Implications of Genetic Purity on Quality and Crop Varietal Performance; Unlocking the Hidden Potential of Serenade Soybean Variety; Pure for sure: -Seed Quality Assurance at a Glance; and Cutting-Edge Research: -Amazing Genetics Gains for Climate Smart Agriculture.

He also disclosed that Seed Co. has adopted transformative initiatives to assist farmers to get resources to ensure that their businesses are well capitalized.

Speaking on sidelines of the meeting, a Grower for Seed Co. Linda Goodman from Lisumbwi farm in Mitundu, Lilongwe said the conference helped them to understand some of the aspects that will boost their agribusiness.

Goodman said: “This year’s conference will help us understand some of the things that we were not able to understand and also interact with other farmers nationwide and share ideas about how we can go further in farming.”

“Not only that, the conference will motivate more women to get attracted to farming which is only taken as male’s work, and also taking farming as a business not just for consumption.

The 15-year agribusiness entrepreneur also urged Seed Co. to continue with the meetings saying they will keep them familiar with the new technologies being developed in farming activities.

Seed Co. plans to be hosting the Growers Conference every year.

This year’s conference also marked 80th anniversary of the company in the seed business industry.

Agriculture as the main anchor of Malawi’s economy contributing 30% to the National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 60% to Malawi’s workforce in sector.

The Malawi Government has called for more investment in Greenbelt irrigation projects as one way of transforming the country’s economy.

Minister of Irrigation and Water Development Charles Mchacha made the call after touring Salima Sugar factory, which is a product of Greenbelt Authority.

Mchacha, who was accompanied by his Deputy Esther Majaza, said with substantial investments, Greenbelt initiatives have the potential of turning around the economic status of the country.

“Learning from the sugar factory, it is clear that as a country if we put more energy and resources in Greenbelt initiatives, the economy will not be same in the next few years to come,” Mchacha said.

The Minister, who toured the factory and the sugarcane plantation, said it is pleasing to note that since the company’s inception it continues to grow in its operations which have provided a ready market for sugarcane to smallholder farmers in Salima and surrounding districts.

” I am also told that the company has now employed close to four thousand people, which is a remarkable achievement in terms of uplifting the wellbeing of Malawians,” Mchacha said.

Acting CEO for Greenbelt Authority Amon Mluwira said the company has lined up a number of measures to increase its production this year and beyond, which includes additional investment in sugarcane production in 6-thousand hectors.

“We are making good progress as a company, for instance last year we managed to produce 13-thousand metric tonnes of sugar but this year we are targeting 26-thousand metric tonnes,” he said.

The company started its operations in 2016, and since then its production has been increasing in each milling season.