Minister launches programme targeting commercialisation

Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale has launched the Sustainable Agriculture Productivity Programme II (Sapp II) with a focus on agricultural commercialisation to create sustainable and viable markets for small-scale farmers.

Speaking during the launch in Lilongwe on Thursday, the minister said the programme will, among others, facilitate partnerships between producer farmer organisations and the private sector for input and output market penetration.

Kawale said the programme will also create opportunities for groups to access mainstream financing.

He said: “There will also be a Farmer Challenge Fund component, which is a rural financing matching grant facility that will support groups and farmer organisations to produce for the market and commercialise, with targeted financing to address constraints at supply side of the value chains.”

The programme’s total funding is $53 million (about K92.8 billion) and will be implemented in four districts of Lilongwe, Dowa, Nkhotakota and Mzimba over a seven-year period.

Kawale said the new programme follows the successful implementation of Sapp I and is different from similar initiatives targeting agriculture commercialisation such as the World Bank-funded Agriculture Commercialisation. (Agcom)

He said: “Sapp II is targeting to commercialise those farmers that are just graduating from subsistence.

“On the other hand, Agcom targets farmers that are able to mobilise resources to commercialise their agricultural production, but cannot afford to meet other requirements for credit as demanded by the financial institutions.”

International Fund for Agriculture Development country representative Bernadette Mukonyora, whose organisation is one of the financiers of the programme, said farmers should grow what they can sell as opposed to just selling what they have grown.

“Sapp II aims to further contribute to rural poverty reduction through the empowered participation of poor rural women, men and the youth in the sustainable transformation of agriculture,” she said.

Sapp programme coordinator Rex Baluwa said programme beneficiaries experienced a 28 percent increase in income from crop production compared to non-beneficiaries.