Guest Spot

‘Malawi can become an agricultural powerhouse’

Haskel: The more Malawi prospers, we feel better
Haskel: The more Malawi prospers, we feel better

The Israeli ambassador to Malawi based in Nairobi, Kenya, Gil Haskel, was in the country to hold meetings with government officials and check progress on the Israeli-Malawi Agricultural Development Project which has been under implementation for the past 12 months. He speaks to News Analyst Suzgo Khunga.

 

Q

What is the area of cooperation between Malawi and Israel?

A

Malawi is quite high on our agenda; we feel there is a natural bond between both our nations. When I meet senior leaders in this country, I hear from many of them that when they were young,  Israel was a household name. When we closed the embassy, there was a sense that Israel disappeared from the skyline of Malawi. When I presented my credentials, I told President [Joyce] Banda that Israel is back. To prove that, we embarked on an agricultural cooperation project and brought from Israel a leading agricultural expert, Shmuel Katz, who is in charge of this project.

 

Q

Is agriculture the only focus of partnership between the two countries?

A

Yes. The President requested us to upgrade capacity building in the area of agriculture irrigation. You have a very good rainy season, which is the main season for planting, then quite a long dry spell in which the land is hardly utilised. The dream of the President is to have two [farming seasons] a year. With double crops, you combat food insecurity and allow better livelihood for every citizen. [This requires] controlled irrigation, not only depending on rainfall. Israel is the leading country in irrigation technology, predominantly drip irrigation. The idea is you feed the plant by drops and the plant gets exactly amount of water it needs to grow, not just exact but also very consistent. You can mix in the water the fertiliser. This idea appealed to the President and the Ministry of Agriculture. There are demonstration plots in each of the districts in Malawi, but we have major plots in Lilongwe: one at NRC, one at Bunda and one at a farm near NRC. The idea is that farmers can come and see what drip irrigation is about and be trained by vocational experts if they want to duplicate this in their own farms.

 

Q

Is drip irrigation feasible in Malawi considering that most Malawian farmers can barely afford fertiliser?

A

The system is applicable, but not without a few conditions. If there could be some sort of scheme with banks providing loans with comfortable interests, farmers that excel can return investment quickly if they invest in cash crops. We want to build cooperatives, install system and get returns quickly. To enhance capability of vocational services, we sent to Israel 32 agriculture students for 11 months; they are studying and working to earn money so they can open their own farms in Malawi. They can also be recruited by the Ministry of Agriculture and serve as vocationalists.

 

Q

Has your project looked at the use of compost fertilisers instead of chemical fertilisers which most Malawians find expensive?

A

At NRC, they have made compost pits where waste from the garden is cut into pieces, mixed with manure and put in the pits. After four months we have excellent compost, so we reduce the cost and conserve the environment as well. In Israel, 80 percent of export produce is grown in the desert where we have less than 20 millimetres of rainfall a year.

 

Q

Have you looked into the possibility of importing some elements of Israeli’s school  syllabus to be used in our agricultural colleges?

A

We brought in two trainers from Israel last year in August and November to train on pest management, compost making, soil preparation, maintenance and management of drip irrigation.

 

Q

How have Malawian farmers received the project?

A

The idea is that these demo plots would be accessible to local farmers. We can only do so much, but bringing farmers themselves to the plots can be done by the local leadership. We can assist in bringing in technologies, we can train the trainers but the actual spread to the grassroots has to be done by Malawians.  In April, we are planning an open day, to bring farmers to the plots for training. The idea is to create a buzz among farmers about this technology.

 

Q

Besides agriculture, which other area of cooperation is Israel looking to have with Malawi?

A

We initially started looking at youth and education and we can explore this in a deeper manner after the elections. We had some initial discussions on fisheries, there is a lot potential for fisheries with the cage fishing on the lake and artificial fish ponds being dug around the country. We had some experts from Israel that came to see possibilities in this area and we will get into discussions after elections.

 

Q

What is your overall impression of Malawi’s agricultural sector?

A

I can tell you one thing, the combination of the soil that you have in this country and the climate with the 1 000mm of rainfall annually and the dedicated farmers that you have: This can turn Malawi easily into an agricultural powerhouse. It is all a matter of proper management and proper schemes and this is something we will engage the government on how best this can be utilised.

 

Q

What does Israel hope to gain from its cooperation with Malawi?

A

First of all, everything we spoke of now is part of the development policy of the Israeli Government. There is no gain here; the gain is that we will see a more developed world with less poverty. Apart from that, what we can gain from relations with Malawi is economic partnerships. We can together attract Israeli investors to set up shop in Malawi in the fields of agriculture. And of course we are after having good relations with the Government of Malawi; government to government relations are important in our global village. The more Malawi prospers, we feel better and it assists our stand on the continent of Africa.

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2 Comments

  1. True. But do Malawians themselves know about this. Politics patsogolo chitukuko pambuyo. Look at the way a mayi akuyendera. Ever since she came to power she has never been in office and strategize. She is always dreamed of distributing shoes, maize and cows.

  2. Its quite interesting.I totally agree with this Ambassador.We have the potential.But we need political will , and all the 3 arms of govt need to seriously focus on this knowing we can do it.Not cashgating or adding political appeasement posts to this project.Only well qualified technocrats who can deliver.Then we can forget about food shortage and concentrate on other exportable commodities.God bless Malawi.

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