Mzuzu Agriculture Development Division (Mzadd) programmes manager Anderson Chikomola has asked smallholder farmers in Mzimba District to find steady markets for their produce.
He said this on Wednesday during the opening of a three-day agriculture fair that the Mzimba South District Agriculture Extension Committee organised in conjunction with Mzadd.
during the fair. I Elton Mhango
Chikomola said finding steady markets will empower farmers economically.
He said: “We appeal to our farmers to focus on finding steady markets where they can sell their produce because this will help them produce what their buyers want and avoid making losses.
“We want our farmers to go commercial farming by taking farming as business which can transform their livelihoods.”
Chikomola called for coordination among agriculture stakeholders at district level to ensure that farmers learn new modern farming methods.
On his part, Mzimba South District Agriculture Extension Committee chairperson Black Kamwaza, who works with Total Land Care Malawi, said they conduct such fairs to enable farmers to showcase their products.
“These fairs have been successful in linking farmers to buyers and financial lending institutions to grow
their farming businesses. We encourage farmers to patronise such events,” he said.
Kamwaza also said fairs teach farmers modern farming practices to realise bumper yields.
Peter Nyirenda, a banana farmer from Chimphwayi Cooperative in Chikangawa, said they also grow Irish potatoes which they wanted to show buyers.
“We are here to market our Irish potatoes to buyers and also meet officials from National Economic Empowerment Fund for the possibility of applying for a loan to grow our business,” he said.
The fair, which started on Wednesday, ends today and is being held under the theme ‘Towards commercialisation and economic transformation through smart and sustainable agricultural systems’.
