Mining & Trade News

The Tobacco Commission (TC) says 2019/2020 marketing season of the country’s green gold, tobacco, will still open on Monday, April 20, despite the pending lockdown due to the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

State President Arthur Peter Mutharika and the Minister of Health and Population Services Jappie Mhango announced on Tuesday night that the country is to effect a 21 days’ national lockdown from next Saturday in a quest to curb further spread of the pandemic.

However, speaking to Mining and Trade Review, TC’s Corporate Planning and Development Manager Hellings Nasoni said the 2019/2020 tobacco market season will still open but “will operate in line with a special directive issued by the Health Authorities.”

Nasoni said: “The Commission and other Industry players have stepped up measures to ensure balanced operations during the process, among others; farmers themselves will be restricted from witnessing marketing proceedings at selling floors and everyone carrying out various operations during the process is required to put on protective gears as prescribed by health officials.”

“Throughout, the process we will continue to complement government efforts to prevent further spread of the virus by abiding by health and safety measures as directed by relevant Authorities.”

To ensure transparency during the process, Nasoni said “the commission will closely work with Tobacco Growers Association who will be representing farmers at selling floors, while sole farmers will be represented by Auction Holdings Limited (AHL) officers who will be available at the floors.”

AHL has also introduced a special number that farmers can dial to check status of their tobacco at the market floors among others; the price at which it has been sold and the name of the buyer.

The first market to be opened will be Lilongwe Auction Floors followed by Chinkhoma on April 21st then Limbe on April 27th and finally Mzuzu on May 4.

Tobacco remains the biggest cash crop in Malawi. During last season a total of 165 million kilograms of tobacco was sold realising US$237 million in revenue. About 155 million kilograms of tobacco is expected to be sold on the market this year.

In a bid to regulate prices of agricultural commodities on the local market, Malawi’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has announced minimum farm-gate prices of crop produce for the 2019/2020 agricultural season.

The minimum price for maize is K200 per kg, polished and unpolished rice at K600 and K280 per kg respectively, Soya beans has been pegged at K300 per kg while pigeon peas is at K240 per kg.

Announcing the prices in Lilongwe, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Francis Kasaira said: “The Ministry is mandated to regulate prices of agricultural commodities in the country. This is achieved through the release of minimum farm-gate prices at the start of each selling season to ensure that farmers are not exploited by the unscrupulous traders.”

“At the same time, this measure ensures affordable prices to consumers. Regulation of agricultural commodity prices ultimately is key in improving incomes of farmers and achieving food and nutrition security in the country.”

The Minister said the minimum farm-gate prices are determined through a consultative process involving key stakeholders in the agricultural sector.

Among other things, the Ministry undertakes a cost of production survey in all districts across the country which involves collecting data on production costs from sampled smallholder farmers on selected crop enterprises, then the data is used to compute gross margins and break-even prices.

“To determine minimum farm gate prices, the Task Force team comprising key stakeholders such as members of the public, private, civil society and farmer organizations further scrutinize the breakeven prices for the selected crops. A markup profit usually set between 10-30% on the break-even price is considered to arrive at the minimum farm gate price,” he said.

Meanwhile, government has bankrolled the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) to commence purchasing maize from Thursday April 9 in the southern region, April 20th in the Central Region and April 27 in the Northern Region.

The first round of Agricultural Production Survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture has projected an increase in cereal, legumes, roots and tubers, livestock and fisheries production in 2019/2020 growing season.

The survey has forecast that maize production will increase by 8.8% from 3.4-million metric tonnes in 2018/2019 growing season to 3.7-million in the 2019/2020 growing season due to favorable weather conditions and increased access to inputs by farmers.

According to the statement released by the Ministry, rice production will also increase by 9.8%, millet 8.9% and sorghum at 3% due to availability of seed, increased wetlands as well as support programmes by government and other stakeholders.

“Most of all cotton production has also increased tremendously from 25-thousand metric tonnes in 2018/2019 to 52-thousand metric tonnes in 2019/2020 growing season representing a 106.8% increase due to intensive promotion campaigns, favorable weather, seed availability and good market arrangements,” says the Ministry.

On livestock, the survey says production will increase as follows; cattle at 4%, pigs 7.7%, Sheep 3.2%, Goats 7.5%, Rabbits 5.5% and Quails at 192.5% due to improved livestock management practices such as good housing, feeding, breeding and disease control.

However, fish production is to register a decrease by 19.1% from 202-thousand metric tonnes to 169-thousand due to low catches, migration of fish and severe water stress.

During the 2019/2020 Mid-year Budget Review statement, Minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamveka said government has earmarked a total of K9.2 billion for maize purchase from smallholder farmers.

Mwanamveka said government will promote structured markets through commodity exchanges, warehousing systems and establishment of cooperatives as well as putting in place mechanisms to curb pilferage and illegal exportation of the country’s farm produce.

Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Kondwani Nankhumwa has hailed the Kutukula Ulimi m’Malawi (KULIMA) project being implemented by an international civil society organization Self Help Africa and its partners saying it is assisting the government in overcoming challenges that Malawi’s agricultural sector is facing.

The Minister made the remarks yesterday in Lilongwe during the learning event of the project, which was organized by Self Help Africa Malawi.

Nankhumwa said the sector is facing challenges such as dependency on rain fed agriculture, post-harvest losses, limited agricultural diversification, small land holding sizes, land degradation, lack of formal markets, among others.

He said: “I commend the KULIMA project for empowering local farmers with relevant knowledge through conducting the Farmer Field School, an approach that is playing an important role in improving and strengthening the delivery of extension services in the 10 KULIMA Project districts.”

“The approach allows farmers to experiment with new agricultural technologies without putting their own food security at risk.”

He said weak delivery of agricultural extension services due to among other factors, high farmer and extension staff ratio and ineffective coordination is one of the major problems affecting the country’s agricultural sector as it weighs on progress on dissemination and adoption of recommended farming technologies by farmers.

 “The situation has been worsened by the increasing prevalence of pests and diseases, including the emergence of the Fall Armyworm which has impacted smallholder farmers across all regions,” he said.

He, therefore, hailed the Farmer Field School approach as an innovative extension approach that is empowering farmers to identify their problem and find solutions through learning.

Self Help Africa is implementing the KULIMA Better project in 10 districts across the country in coordination with four organisations namely Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Actionaid, Plan International and Evangelical Association of Malawi with funding from the European Development Fund.

The objective of the project is to contribute to increased growth of Malawi’s agricultural sector, expand commercial agriculture base and improve food and nutrition security.

Nankhumwa also commended the project for its efforts to integrate gender, nutrition and financial inclusion through the Farmer Field Schools approach in which it provides training to farmers on various topics.

Under the KULIMA BETTER project, a total of 4, 970 Farmer Field Schools have been established and are going through a season long training focusing on different study topics which among others include integrated pest and disease management; crop variety performance; integrated soil fertility management and soil and water management.

The learning events are conducted to ensure that the lessons drawn from the Farmer Field School studies are shared with the wider community and stakeholders at community, district and national levels.

This year’s National Learning Event was conducted under the theme of ‘Finding local solutions to sustainable agricultural production, diversification and climate change through Farmer Field Schools.’

Agriculture is the main stay of the economy of Malawi contributing close to a third of the country’s GDP and employing majority of the labour force.

A leading international development charity organization Self Help Africa (SHA) has organized a national learning event for its Kulima Better Extension Training Transforming Economic Return (BETTER) Programme which will be held at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe on February 14th 2020.

The national learning event will be conducted under the theme ‘Finding local solutions to sustainable agricultural production, diversification and climate change through farmer field school.’

Learning and Communication Specialist for SHA Pauline Mbukwa says in a Press Statement that the national learning event aims at sharing the best practices that have been documented by farmer field schools.

Mbukwa says: “The overall objective of KULIMA BETTER project is to increase resilience, food, and nutrition and income security of 402, 000 smallholder farmers in the 10 KULIMA districts.”

“Since its inception in 2018, the project has been conducting various studies through farmer field schools which involve comparing research based recommendations with local practices and testing innovations in a low risk environment.”

Mbukwa says the conference will, among other things, feature oral presentations from various organizations, poster sessions, video show, and pavilion displays around diverse sub themes.

The diverse sub themes include: Integrated pest and disease control in the context of fall armyworm and Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV); impact of GALS approach on gender roles in agriculture; nutrition actions for sustained dietary diversity; resilience to climate shocks; farmer field schools for improved extension services delivery; and cost effective soil fertility management.

SHA is part of the Kutukula Ulimi M’Malawi (KULIMA) program which is co-funded to the tune of €111-million, with the European Union contributing €100-million.

The four main implementing partners of KULIMA program include: Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), GIZ, and SHA led consortium, all playing critical roles in supporting the Malawi Government to deliver the three components of KULIMA program which include to increase agricultural productivity and diversification through mainly up-scaling climate-smart agriculture technologies; agriculture value chain and business development; and support to improved governance in the agricultural sector.

The program is being implanted in 10 districts of Mzimba, Chiradzulu, Kasungu, Nkhatabay, Nkhotakota, Karonga, Mulanje, Salima, Chitipa and Thyolo.

SHA is implementing the five-year Better Extension Training Transforming Economic Return (BETTER) project in collaboration with Action Aid Malawi, Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Plan International and Evangelical Association of Malawi.   

SHA’s expertise is in small-scale farming and growing family-farm businesses, with highest motivation by injustice, by their expertise in small-scale agriculture and family-farm business, and the opportunity they have to help small farmers change the lives of their families.

The Civil Society Agriculture Network Malawi (CISANET) has stressed the need for transparency in the award of contracts in the agricultural sector in order to curb corruption, which is a stumbling block to growth of the sector.

CISANET Director of Planning Alfred Kambwiri said in Mzuzu during a media training workshop on open contracting, which it organized in partnership with the Malawi Economic Justice Network and Hivos Malawi, that there is need to uphold transparency and accountability in the contracting processes if Malawi’s economy is to adequately benefit from the agriculture sector.

Kambwiri told the journalists that as a watch dog of the society, the media needs to play a role in ensuring that there is openness in the procurement process for goods and services.

 “As CISANET, we recognize the crucial role that the media has in ensuring accountability and transparency, so we organized this training because we believe that if the media is equipped in the ethics of accountability and transparency in open contracting they can do a very great job to actually influence those ideals in the agriculture sector and all other sectors in government where procurement processes are done’ said Kambwiri

Kambwiri pointed out that almost 70% of government’s budget is spent on contracts that go through procurement which calls for the media to play an oversight role in ensuring that there is transparency in public procurement processes.

“A lot of money is spent on contracts, and if the procurement processes are not more accountable and transparent, we will lose a lot of money as a nation,” he said.

Open contracting is about publishing and using open, accessible and timely information on government contracts to engage citizens and businesses in identifying and fixing problems.

It also looks at issues of accountability and transparency in the procurement of goods and services in the public sector.

One of the workshop participants, Alex Banda of Zodiak Broadcasting Station, described the training as useful saying it has enlightened the journalists on how government undertakes procurement processes for contracts.

He said with the knowledge gained from the training, the journalists will be able to competently carry out investigations regarding breaches of procurement procedures in public institutions.

CISANET is implementing a project on open contracting in Mzimba South.

Government says there is need for a majority of Malawi’s young population to play a role in agricultural development if the country is to address food insecurity and expand its export base.

Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Kondwani Nankhumwa said this on his return from a 3-day long Global Forum on Food and Agriculture (GFFA) Conference held in Berlin, Germany.

“We agreed at the conference that there is no way food security for a nation like Malawi can be achieved if the youth, who form the majority of the population, are not taking an active role in agriculture,” he said.

The conference which was held under the theme “Food for All! Trade for secure, Diverse and Sustainable Nutrition” brought together Agriculture Ministers from 71 countries to discuss long lasting solutions to food insecurity.

Currently more than 820 million people suffer from hunger, and 2.5 billion suffer from some form of micronutrient deficiency, while the world’s population is growing fast and projected to reach nearly 20 billion people by the year 2050.

Nankhumwa told Mining & Trade Review that the conference was vital for Malawi’s Agricultural transformation drive as it has set another benchmark on how the country is fairing in ensuring risks of food insecurity are mitigated.

“We have discussed how trade in food and agricultural commodities and trade in services for Agriculture can contribute towards achieving food security for the world’s increasing population, as well as improving farmer’s livelihoods and income,” he said.

At the conference, it was also observed that most of the strategies governing agricultural sectors in many countries are outdated making it difficult for present farmers to sail through the current waves in the sector brought by numerous natural and technological changes.

Nankhumwa said: “A policy is a living document which must be regularly monitored and changed over time as the world is dynamic.”

“Malawi must follow suite to ensure we are at par with our trade partners and competitors.”

He noted that over the past few years, Malawi has not been able to maximize agricultural production to satisfy the local and international demands which calls for the need for adoption of new policies to advance mechanisation and commercialisation systems.

At the conference, the Ministers had sessions with Agriculture youth representatives from various countries, who presented their petitions lobbying governments to create conducive environment for youth participation in agricultural activities.

Nankhumwa pledged to implement more youth-centred projects to supplement Youth in Agriculture project which his ministry is currently running in some districts.

Malawi’s State President Arthur Peter Mutharika will on Friday, January 10, launch the Agricultural Commercialization Project (AGCOM) at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.

Principle Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development (MoAIWD) Gray Nyandule-Phiri says in a statement that the project is being implemented under the theme of ‘Agricultural Commercialization: Leveraging Cooperatives and Markets.’

Nyandule-Phiri explains that his Ministry is implementing the project in close collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (MoITT) and other stakeholders using proceeds of a loan from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) amounting to US$ 95-million.

He says: “The objective of AGCOM is to increase commercialization of agricultural value chain products selected under the project including products of farms and agribusinesses, like crop, livestock, and fisheries products sold domestically or exported, with or without processing, depending on market requirements.”

“AGCOM is implementing a high impact Productive Alliance (PA) approach based on commercial agreement between the project supported Producer Organizations (POs) including farmer cooperatives and associations.”

The project is expected to benefit small-scale and emerging poor farmers (cultivating not more than eight hectors) and farmer organizations with capacity to produce beyond subsistence; agro-product buyers (processors, retailers, exporters, and aggregators) and; financial lending institutions for the agricultural sector.

AGCOM will also be paying special attention to women and youth based producer organizations to achieve the objective of having a minimum of 300 productive alliances and 100,000 farming households in 5-years’ time.

The project has four components namely: Building Productive Alliances that will be supporting the integration of small-scale and emerging farmers; Support Investment Enabling Services for Access to Agricultural Financing and Access to Land for Commercial Agriculture; Project Coordination and Management and; AGCOM approach in selecting the Value Chains (VC) to allow agricultural value chains have strong prospective commercial linkages.

AGCOM is being implemented through an independent Project Implementation Unit (PIU) whose operations started in July 2018.

The PIU is charged with the responsibility to oversee day to day project implementation, monitor progress, and coordinate and account for utilization of project funds.

The project will be implemented country-wide for six years from 2018 to 2023.

Malawi is planning to scale up investment in aquaculture so that the country is able to meet fish demand for the local market and start exporting processed fish.

Speaking during the launch of the Aquaculture Round Table in Lilongwe, Director of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Coordinator of Cooperatives in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism Wiskes Mkombezi explained that the government will work with different stakeholders to commercialize fish farming.

Mkombezi said it is shameful that the nation is importing fresh and canned fish regardless of the famous fish species that Lake Malawi has.

He said: “We do not have to be importing fish, but instead through aquaculture, we should be producing enough for local consumption and export.”

“It is sad to see foreign fish species like Kalapao from Mozambique flooding our markets despite us having enormous potential to develop our fish farming industry.”

He said it is high time Malawi developed its fish processing and export industry, which will create more employment opportunities and contribute to growth of the national economy.

Mkombezi urged fish farmers to take aquaculture seriously to increase local production and help in import substitution.

He said growth in aquaculture will also help in attracting tourists, as most visitors are always eager to taste the famous chambo delicacy.

Director of Fisheries in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Friday Njaya commented that it is possible for Malawi to produce enough fish for the local and export market as the country has huge potential to develop aquaculture.

“As a nation, we have plenty of unexploited markets in countries like South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe,” he said.

German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) Standing in Country Director Kornelius Schiffer hailed the launch of the round table saying it will assist in eradicating malnutrition cases as fish remains one of the major sources of animal protein.

Schiffer promised continued support to sustainably achieve the vision and the mission of the round table.

He pleaded with the Government to put in efforts to develop aquaculture“on the ground and not only on paper.”

The aquaculture round table is a collaboration of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development and GIZ.

Malawi fisheries sector contributes an estimated four percent to Gross Domestic Product(GDP)catering for livelihoods of some 1.6 million people including those living exclusively on the catch, processing and trade of wild fish stocks mainly from Lake Malawi.

In Malawi, fish plays an important role in food security as it caters for over 40% of the total national protein requirement.

The annual fish production increased from about 144-thousand tons in 2015 to 157-thousand tons in 2016, representing 8.98% increase of which aquaculture production was over 7-thousand tons.