Study outlines five agro investment opportunities
A new study has recommended that local and foreign investors should take up five lucrative commercial investment opportunities in the agriculture sector worth $186 million (about K325 billion) to increase production and meet increasing demand.
Jointly conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, National Planning Commission (NPC), Mwapata Institute and Turfs University, the report, unveiled in Lilongwe on Thursday at a National Stakeholder Consultation on Acceleration of Malawi’s Food Systems Transformation, looked at areas that need catalysing to address factors that affect food systems in Malawi.
The five lucrative investments include small-scale irrigation venture that requires $65 million (about K113 billion), livestock mega farm worth $50 million (about K86 billion), aquaculture venture with a total investment of $12 million (about K21 billion), a $50 million horticulture mega farm and $9 million (about K 16 billion) agricultural extension services.
But the study urges government to do definitive feasibility studies on the investment opportunities to ease entry of entrepreneurs.
The investment areas have potential to increase productivity of smallholder farmers by up to 50 percent and income levels by up to 83 percent as the production ventures have been modelled to be established as anchor farms, according to the study.
Commenting on the study, Mwapata Institute executive director William Chadza said the food systems in Malawi are affected by both supply and demand side challenges, adding that stakeholders under the initiative are calling for diversification and mechanisation of production.
“They are looking at irrigation to ensure smallholder farmers are using technologies, especially those that use solar power,” he said.
At the UN Food Systems Summit in September 2022, Malawi defined clear priority interventions and action items for attaining sustainable food system.
Following the summit, Malawi planned to operationalise the priority aspirations and actions as expressed in the National Food Systems Pathway Report.
Reads the statement in part: “The Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with food systems stakeholders in the country developed a road map that culminated in action tracks and pathways to operationalise the road map, focused on food security, nutritional and health, environmental sustainability, social economy and territorial balance.”
NPC research manager Andrew Jamali, who is the focal person of the National Food Systems, said the food systems interventions fit into the pillars and enablers of Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development plan.
“As we operationalise and implement food systems interventions, they will be silently addressing key interventions under pillars and enablers of Malawi 2063,” he said.
The National Food Systems Pathways Report has five action tracks covering a diverse range of key focus areas for the food systems transformation in Malawi through various pathways or strategies.
A $1.2 billion (about K2 trillion) food systems strategy and investment plan was put together as part of kick-starting the operational aspects of the food systems programme in the country.
It further adds that this lack of consolidated information and updates from the various stakeholders impedes the accurate monitoring of progress towards addressing the challenges inherent in Malawi’s food system.
