Farmers urged to embrace cooperatives

Farmers in Balaka District have been asked to start embracing cooperatives in a bid to attract good markets.

Balaka district agriculture executive coordinating committee (Daecc) chairperson Edward Mwale said this on Thursday during the second agriculture fair aimed at linking farmers to structured and profitable markets for their produce.

“Cooperatives have proven to be a strategic way of getting profitable markets for farmers as they advocate one thing with potential buyers. If farmers operate individually, it is a recipe for exploitation from buyers who dictate prices,” he said.

Machinga Agriculture Development Division programme manager Issac Chipeta said frequent interaction between farmers and agricultural experts enables farmers to learn skills from the technocrats, thereby improving their production.

One of the farmers, Boniface Chimalizeni from Chimpakali Village in Traditional Authority (T/A) Chanthunya, commended Balaka Daecc for organising the fair, saying it introduced famers to agro-dealers where they can find viable seeds. n