Malawi to have starch factory in Nov

About  9 000 farmers are expected to benefit from Universal Farm Limited’s starch factory set to start this November at Njuli in Malawi’s commercial city, Blantyre.

General manager of the company Navin Kumar said in an interview on Friday the company has invested K45 million (about $150 000) in the project.

“The company will also be producing glucose from cassava for our parent company [Universal Industries],” he said.

Kumar said the factory will employ 55 people. The farmers, who will be supplying cassava to the company, will come from Chiradzulu, Phalombe, Zomba and other districts.

Kumar said they are targeting companies that import starch such as Packaging Industries Limited and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) regional markets.

The starch factory is working hand-in-hand with Chancellor College in a project called Cassava Adding Value for Africa (Cava).

Cassava, the main raw material for starch production, is one of the most important crops in Malawi by volume.

In 2009, Malawi produced 3.8 million tonnes of cassava, a yield which was higher than that of maize.

Ironically, Malawi imports starch for the production of paper sacks, corrugated cartons and trays despite this relatively high cassava production.