Donors commit K1 trillion to agriculture
The newly-launched National Agricultural Investment Plan (Naip) has received a boost from the donor community which has committed $1.4 billion (about K1 trillion) to see it through the next five years.
Speaking during the launch of the plan in Lilongwe on Wednesday, head of the Donor Committee on Agriculture and Food Security Marchel Gerrmann, who is also EU Ambassador, observed that all stakeholders will need to align and harmonise their budgets to the plan.
He said: “As donors, we believe that agricultural transformation in the country is possible if, under government leadership, resources are balanced and aligned to all Naip intervention areas and implemented according to plan.”
The EU head said government investments have primarily focused on farm input subsidies and maize purchases at the expense of proven drivers of growth such as extension and research.
“The trend has been confirmed in next year’s budget and it is a concern. The sector lacks a solid foundation of functional institutions to develop food and nutrition security, resilience building, sustainable land resource management and use and economic growth,” he said.
In his remarks, Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Joseph Mwanamvekha, while admitting the shortfalls in the agriculture sector, said the success of the investment plan and its implementation goes beyond his ministry.
He said: “The investment plan is also aligned to the national development policy blueprint, the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS III) and serves as the main implementation vehicle for the 2016 National Agriculture Policy.”
The Naip seeks to transform the country’s agricultural sector, is a medium-term investment framework to be implemented over a five-year period (2017/18 to 2022/23). It builds on achievements and lessons from its predecessor, the Agriculture Sector-Wide Approach (Aswap) which was implemented between 2010/11 and 2014/15. n
