Govt, Norway hail Neal formation
Malawi and Norway say the formation of the Network for Enhanced Livelihood (Neal), a grouping of orgnisations in the agriculture sector that seeks to harness quality service delivery in livelihoods programmes for impact and sustainability.
With funding from the Norwegian Embassy, the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship (AICC), the Development Fund (DF) of Norway (Secretariat for Neal), Leadership in Environment and Development (Lead), Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (Luanar), National Association of Smallholder Farmers in Malawi (Nasfam), Total LandCare (TLC) and, We Effect (formerly Swedish Cooperative Centre) are the organisations that have made up Neal. Neal is aimed at improving collaboration, networking, learning and sharing of best practices in the areas of sustainable food security and climate smart practices through Norad and the Royal Norwegian Embassy (RNE) supported programmes in Malawi.
Minister of Agriculture Allan Chiyembekeza said the birth of Neal Enhanced synergy for effective coordination of services beyond and across organisational boundaries.
“The formation of this network will maximise use of existing resources, thereby, reducing duplication and negative competition and minimise gaps in services and dissipation of energy. There will also be increased learning and sharing of best practices that will strongly influence policies on climate change adaptation and sustainable food security and also increased leverage in mobilisation of resources for scaling up,” said Chiyembekeza during the launch of Neal in Lilongwe.
Deputy Ambassador of Norway, Bjarne Garden said the formation of Neal is the genesis of the development of a community of practice among institutions implementing agricultural and climate change related interventions to uplift the livelihoods status of the vulnerable community members.
“The Embassy noted that collaboration, networking and partnerships are vital for the harmonisation of development programmes and the enhancement of positive impact. As such, the Embassy is promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among its partners. The seven partners that make up Neal are committed to documenting and disseminating real-life experiences, lessons learnt and best practices in the fields of agriculture and climate change,” said Garden.
“These institutions have bilateral agreements with the Royal Norwegian Embassy. Individually, the institutions have been contributing significantly towards the commendable effort made by the Malawi Government to uplift the livelihood status of rural communities with a focus on smallholder farmers that currently are facing a number of environmental and climate change related challenges,” said Garden.
