Centre identifies 7 key crops for Malawi

The Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) has identified  seven key potential priority crops for investment and business in the country.

The identified crops are groundnuts, pigeon peas, sunflower, soya beans, maize and sugarcane production.

According to MITC, the crops have the utmost potential for businesses to explore and invest in and for farmers to capitalise on the currently high growing demand and produce more on these agricultural products.

MITC chief executive officer (ECO) Clement Kumbemba  told Malawi News Agency (Mana) in an interview on Tuesday after the opening an Investor Forum Meeting that the project areas were selected by looking at various economic and social issues.

He said, the targeted projects had to be agricultural in nature and in line with the Economy Recovery Plan (ERP), the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy 2 (MGDS 2) in support of the national export strategy. The targets should also have local and regional demand.

“So, we are looking at the bigger picture since agriculture here is in the hands of the smallholder farmers. If we attract investors in those sectors, our smallholder farmers can also benefit from them,” said Kumbemba.

Kumbemba said markets of the commodities are pertinent to the success of the project as people tend to grow or produce something that has an already existing market.

“If we open up and find off takers for these projects, then that is definitely going to trigger demand for those products. Subsequently, there will be so many people looking for pigeon peas, soya beans among others because they will be an off taker, and the farmer will definitely benefit from these projects.

MITC was established in 2012 through the merger of the Malawi Investment and Promotion Agency and the Malawi Promotion Council.

It acts as a single interface for foreign and local investors and traders seeking to invest and trade in Malawi.