Mzimba farmers hail agriculture project
Farmers in Mzimba District have hailed the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach Support Project (Aswap-SP II) for transforming their lives by empowering them with new skills.
Speaking on Wednesday in Mzimba when the World Bank and Ministry of Agriculture officials inspected their crop fields, one of the lead farmers Tionge Munthali said their harvests have more than doubled because of the programme which has a training component.
She said: “Through the programme, we have been trained on how to improve our farming activities. Before the project, our harvests were low. But now I use home-made manure and use new maize planting methods. These methods have doubled my harvest.”
The farmer said she harvested 40 bags of 50 kilogrammes each in 2019, 65 in 2020 and 96 bags last year.
World Bank Malawi office principal agriculture economist Blessings Botha said he was impressed to see agriculture production improve.
“When we designed it, the aim was to improve food security, productivity, diversification, as well as market access. So, we have seen here in Mzimba District that all these things have come to fruition,” he said.
Ministry of Agriculture Principal Secretary responsible for irrigation Geoffrey Mamba was optimistic that the farmers would sustain the good practices learnt under the Aswap-SP II project.
The K90 billion second phase project, winding up in June this year, started in 2018 and is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture.
