Ifad donates cold rooms to Chitedze Research Station
The International Fund for Agriculture Development (Ifad) has given Malawi a $3 million (about K5.2 billion) grant to facilitate adaptive crop and soil research.
Speaking at Chitedze Agricultural Research Station in Lilongwe on Thursday, Ifad country representative Bernadette Mukonyora said the funds, sourced from the United States Government, will be part of the Sustainable Agriculture Productivity Programme phase two (Sapp II).
She said: “This is a pan-African initiative and the idea is to continue working around agricultural research and ensure that the research is answering to market demands.
“We want to ensure that farmers are producing for the market in the quantity and quality that is demanded.”
The grant was announcement on the sidelines of the research station’s 62nd Agricultural Field Day held under the theme ‘70 years of generating and promoting agricultural technologies and providing services for improving agricultural productivity and commercialisation in Malawi’.
During the field day, Ifad also handed over seed coldroom storage facilities to Chitedze Agricultural Research Station, which are expected to boost research on crop varieties, among others.
In his remarks, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale, who was the guest of honour, described Ifad’s gesture as a positive development that complements the government’s efforts to commercialise agriculture.
He said: “Ifad has been supporting Malawi’s agriculture sector in many ways. Through the Crisis Response Initiative, Ifad has provided us with the seed storage coldrooms we have received today.
“This is filling a long-standing gap in plant breeding programmes since the old coldrooms are not in good shape.”
Sapp II was signed in March this year to the tune of $54 million (about K94.5 billion), out of which $18 million (about K32 billion) was readily available.
