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Experts propose new agriculture statutory body, council

Malawi is a country that relies on agriculture for economic sustainability
Malawi is a country that relies on agriculture for economic sustainability

Agriculture experts and civil society groups working in the agriculture field have proposed the creation of the National Agriculture Transformation Authority (Nata) and National Food Security Council (Nfsc) to oversee the development of the agriculture sector in the next 50 years.

The proposals were made at the at the just-ended multi-stakeholder national agriculture conference Civil Society Agriculture Network (Cisanet) organised in Lilongwe last week.

Cisanet board chairperson Willie Kalamula said organisation supports the creation of a full statutory body tasked to implement measures and projects to transform the agriculture sector from the current predominant traditional ways to a modern mechanised sector.

He said the Nfsc will oversee all issues of food security as is the trend in other fast developing African countries.

“Cisanet strongly believes that the agriculture sector needs a clear vision upon which all the policies and programmes of government and other sector players will be based. On top of that, there will be a need for clear roadmaps and monitoring mechanisms to achieve that vision,” said Kalamula.

An agriculture expert who recently worked at New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) Professor Richard Mkandawire, also backed the proposal of an agriculture council, saying the country needs to take several steps to spearhead a new era of development.

“Africa is the least developed region because African governments for decades mortgaged planning and policy implementation to foreigners. We need to start planning ourselves.

“We have been passive recipients of foreign programmes and policies,” said Mkandawire, who currently heads the African fertiliser and Agribusiness Association.

Meanwhile, Cisanet has also reiterated civil society calls for the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (Fisp) to be reviewed, saying funding for the programme has come at the expense of support towards other crucial agriculture fields such as extension and research.

The conference themed ‘Malawi Agriculture at 50: Towards a Common Vision for the Next 50 years’ served as an opportunity for the country to look back at how the nation has fared in the past 50 years of independence in the sector.

The conference attracted participants and speakers from the academia, corporate world, civil society, private sector and farmers organisations.

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