Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale has handed over tractors and agricultural facilities to farmer cooperatives in Lilongwe for dairy and poultry production at Nsaru, Traditional Authority Kabudula in the city.
Mpesa Cooperative received a poultry house, while Nsaru Dairy Cooperative, along with Golide and Arise and Shine Cooperatives were equipped with feed storage facilities and chuff cutter machines. The cooperatives are beneficiaries of the Agricultural Commercialisation AGCOM Project.
Speaking after handing over the equipment and facilities, Kawale emphasised that AGCOM is meant to migrate farmers from the Affordable Farm Inputs Programme to commercialised Agriculture.
“With increased agricultural mechanisation, we’ll be able to improve productivity and promote value addition for increased profitability,” said Kawale.
During his visit, the minister also engaged B06 Entrepreneurs, a group of graduates from the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), who are pursuing horticulture production in greenhouses after receiving a matching grant of K133 million from AGCOM.
AGCOM National Coordinator, Ted Nakhumwa said AGCOM 2, is intensifying its efforts to support the whole agricultural value chain with a focus on promoting value addition. More than $300 million in World Bank support is set to be disbursed under the AGCOM 2 project.
Reported by Doreen Sonani.
