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Admarc strategic plan Sets ambitious targets

State produce trader, Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), has unveiled a four-year ambitious strategic plan which targets to increase sales volumes by 15 percent and penetrate 100 supermarkets with its products by 2022.

Speaking on Thursday evening in Blantyre during the unveiling of the strategic plan that will run from 2018 to 2022, Admarc acting chief executive officer Margaret Roka-Mauwa indicated that the parastatal also wants to generate revenue from commercial businesses; enter into strategic marketing alliance with buyers; venture into new product development initiatives; establish strategic business units and sustain quality products through the value chain.

Admarc head office in Limbe, Blantyre where decisions are made

She said: “Admarc is also aware of its role towards socio-economic transformation of this country. Admarc is mandated, among others, to contribute to macroeconomic development through marketing of agricultural commodities, products and services and value addition to

agricultural produce for both local and export markets.”

Roka-Mauwa said the strategic planning process, facilitated by F&N Consultants, was consultative, with extensive consultations during the preparation of the plan to ensure it reflects both institutional and stakeholder aspirations, and that it is fully owned by all stakeholders for easy implementation.

On his part, Admarc board chairperson James Masumbu said the scandal-ridden parastatal’s main objective is to champion production, grading, value addition, packaging, marketing and distribution of agricultural produce nationwide and beyond.

“Over the years, the company mainly focused on the production, packaging and distribution of agricultural produce with very little value-addition.

“The 2018-2022 Strategic Plan has aligned the company to the country’s vision to move up from the value chain in selected cash crops and increase the export of agro-processed products,” he said.

In line with this strategic direction, Masumbu said Admarc plans to venture into strategic partnerships, stressing that the plan has been developed to provide a structured mechanism to achieve its  vision and mission.

He said noticeable challenges in the previous plan from 2010-15 include inadequate financial resources, unavailability of monitoring and evaluation tools, limited revenue sources, unfriendly price policies, dependency on rain-fed agricultural production, and obsolete performance management system.

A representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Maxwell  Tsitsi said Admarc is leveraging on the available processing plants to add value on agricultural products, adding that this will generate foreign exchange for the country.

“The strategic plan seeks to unveil the new future for a new Admarc that is ready to be commercially viable and become the market leader once more,” he said.

Admarc has been in the news for the wrong reasons bordering on inefficiency and mismanagement.

Last fiscal year, Treasury bailed out Admarc with K45.2 billion after it failed to repay loans it got to buy maize which it failed to sell. n

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