Malawi urges cooperatives to value add products

Malawi Government has asked Malawians to value add their products if they are to fetch more money on the international market.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Ulemu Chilapondwa, said this at the weekend in the central Malawi district of Ntchisi where he launched the Highlands Madamia Cooperative Union Limited (Himacul).

The cooperative is currently building the brand of Malawi’s Macadamia nuts in targeted export markets.

“Value addition at local level will translate into more jobs and increased income for players involved in the product value chain,” said Chilapondwa.

He said the Joyce Banda administration is committed to the value adding campaign. Despite the campaign being touted for years, there is little to show for it on the ground. This has caused the country to earn little foreign exchange currency needed to finance critical goods and services such as drugs, fertiliser and fuel.

Consequently, this has culminated into worsening Malawi’s trade balance, the gap between total merchandise exports and imports, which has also translated into detonating terms of trade (ToT).

He admitted that previous governments have been preaching about the need to add value to local farm produce, but said there is little on the ground to show for their efforts.