Government backs market-led crop production
Government says it is high time the country’s farmers adopted the market-led crop production to maximise benefits from cash crops amid a change in agricultural marketing dynamics.
Ministers of Agriculture and Trade and industry made the sentiments in Lilongwe during the launch of the Virtual Farming Organisation on Wednesday, an agricultural produce off-taker which reaches out to farmers with ready markets using online platform, such as a website.
Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe said farmers fail to reap benefits from their investment because they produce first and start searching for markets for their produce later.
He said: “We should establish markets first before production and when we talk about well-structured markets, it is only tobacco that enjoys such a market in the country.
“It has been a challenge to establish structured markets for other value chains but the coming in of online markets such as this Virtual Farming Organisation gives farmers an opportunity for an established market where everyone can access the market information about quantities required and price.”
Lowe said the coming in of such ready markets will also drive away vendors who rip off farmers because the off-taker will deal directly with farmers.
In his remarks, Minister of Trade and Industry Mark Katsonga Phiri said farmers need civic education on the use of basic Internet services to benefit from such initiatives.
Virtual Farming Organisation Malawi chief executive officer Kirby Maganga said their aim is to empower local farmers to enable them access international markets directly than using middlemen, who mostly dupe them.
He said so far, there is demand for 10 000 metric tonnes each for groundnuts, sugar beans and soybeans to be exported to Botswana.
“We already have an import permit in Botswana for these products. The benefit for a farmer is that they will have lucrative markets that beings attractive returns,” he said.
Maganga said as a starting point, they will buy 250 modern gadgets to be distributed to cooperatives nationwide to access online markets.
