By Pemphero Malimba:
Agriculture Minister Sam Kawale has called for collaboration to facilitate the transformation of the agriculture sector.
Kawale said this on Wednesday when presiding over the launch of three agriculture-related policies which are expected to provide guidance on the implementation of agricultural interventions.
These policies, which include the National Agriculture Policy, Agriculture Land Resources Management Policy and National Irrigation Policy, are expected to be implemented between 2024 and 2029.
“As outlined in the implementation plan matrices, various stakeholders, including farmers, farmers’ organisations, the private sector, development partners, statutory corporations and civil society, have pivotal roles in ensuring the success of these policies. Let us be proactive and collaborative in our respective roles to drive the transformation of our agriculture sector,” Kawale said.
He noted that the policies were crucial as they were in line with the country’s development plans.
At the event, representatives of the academia, business community and other players in the agriculture sector made commitments to support the implementation of the policies.
Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources Vice Chancellor Professor Emmanuel Kaunda said the academia were committed to helping the government in implementing the policies by training more experts to offer services in various areas.
“Through higher education research and innovation, we are determined to play an instrumental role in contributing to the successful implementation of these three policies,” Kaunda said.
Farmers Union of Malawi Chief Executive Officer Jacob Nyirongo said the organisation was geared to contribute to the successful implementation of the policies.
“We, therefore, recognise the importance of these policies in addressing challenges, hence we make the full commitment to ensure the successful implementation of these policies to continue encouraging farmers to adopt environment-friendly and climate-smart agriculture practices while collaborating with the Government of Malawi (through), the Ministry of Agriculture and other stakeholders,” Nyirongo said.
Civil Society Agriculture Network acting National Director Elizabeth Namaona said the organisation would help in sensitising people to issues such as contents of the policies.
The National Agriculture Policy aims to achieve sustainable food and nutrition security, increased incomes and wealth as well as trade competitiveness in an inclusive manner while the Agriculture Land Resources Management Policy aims to promote sustainable use of land resources in order to increase and sustain its productivity and climate change resilience while contributing to national food and nutrition security and economic growth of the country.
On the other hand, the national irrigation policy seeks to support efforts to transform smallholder irrigators from subsistence to commercial farming in line with Malawi 2063 vision goals.
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