Malawi to import 1 000 cows from Zambia
The Malawi Government is currently importing 1 000 cows from Zambia to boost the ‘One Cow per Family’ project being championed by President Joyce Banda, a senior government official said on Tuesday.
The initiative, which seeks to rescue Malawians from abject poverty, was launched by the President in April and is being coordinated by the Presidential Initiative on Poverty and Hunger Reduction.
Susan Chikagwa-Malunga, who is deputy national coordinator for Presidential Initiative on Poverty and Hunger Reduction told The Nation in Lilongwe that some cows (Brahman crosses) have already been imported into the country and that her office is targeting 1 000 animals by December, 2013.
“We are involving veterinarians and other experts to verify these cows under quarantines for 28 eight days as part of the disease control,” she said.
Chikagwa-Malunga disclosed that 291 cows were distributed to beneficiaries in Phalombe, Ntchisi, Zomba, Mulanje, Nkhotakota, Lilongwe, Mzimba and Nkhata Bay.
She said under the pass-on programme, government is targeting at distributing one million cows in the next five years to elevate nutritional levels of most Malawians and also promote crop production through manure.
In an interview, Elemita Mvunde one of the beneficiaries testified, that the programme is fast elevating her household welfare since she was given a diary cow in April.
Good use of donor & tax payers money, am not sure though what creteria is being used to select the beneficiaries, but this is one of those few poverty reduction programs that our political govt have got it right. I hope that financial audit reports are being monitored and that when everthing is said and done no one would be going to jail for taking advantage of some loop holes in this program.