Stakeholders urged to fund agriculture research
African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC) chief executive officer Felix Lombe has urged government and the donor community to increase funding for research in the legume sub-sector for the betterment of the economy.
Speaking on the sidelines of the first ever Legumes Technology and Research Symposium held under the theme Transforming the Legume Sub-sector through Science and Technology, in Lilongwe on Thursday Lombe said it is only through research that new technologies can be upscaled for the benefit of the farmer and economy at large.
He said: “Government has created a conducive environment for research but it’s must increase its allocation because for the past years, fewer resources have been set aside for this important undertaking.
“If you look at our universities or even research stations, there are highly qualified scientists, but they do not do much because of lack of funds. Donors as well can come in to work with non-governmental organisations to fund research in agriculture.
“Sometimes we impose our findings and new technologies to farmers, but in the end the farmer does not adopt them. If this has to change, we have to engage the farmer and make sure that he should not completely change the way he was doing things before..
In a separate interview, national coordinator for the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach, Nelson Mataka, said government is greatly committed to promoting technologies and innovations in the country because they have the capacity to help farmers increase yields.
“As government, we recognise the importance of research and innovations in creating vibrant value chains especially for legumes. Despite the huge opportunity, it is disheartening that reports still indicate low adoption of technologies which contribute to continued low productivity by our farmers,” said Mataka.
He said government has always created a conducive environment for research and innovations more especially for the legumes sub-sector which is a priority in strategies to turn around the economy of the country.
Chairperson for Legumes Development Trust (LDT), Geoffrey Kananji, explained that legumes have become a key subsector for export diversification, hence the need for more research to improve the sector.
The Malawi National Export Strategy (NES) prioritises three export clusters for diversification and one with particularly high potential for spill over to other sectors of the economy and wealth creation is the legume sub-sector.
Legumes such as soya, pigeon pea, beans and groundnuts; among others, have strong domestic and regional demand, potential for wealth creation and multiplier effect to sectors such as oil processing and poultry. n
