Translate agriculture fair deals into reality
From August 29 to 31 this year, the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) in partnership with Ministry of Agriculture hosted the 20th National Agriculture Fair at the Chichiri Trade Fair Grounds in Blantyre.
Held under the theme ‘Driving towards export-oriented agriculture through commecialisation and innovation’, it would appear the fair was a huge success if preliminary statistics from MCCCI are anything to go by.
There were 184 pavilions with 86 companies participating, including four international exhibitors and K939 million worth of deals were clinched with at least 50 markets secured, according to the stats.
Trade is critical to national development and it is little wonder that individual countries as well as regional economic groupings and multilateral institutions are all talking about trade.
The World Bank Group describes trade as a golden key towards ending global poverty because countries that open up to international trade tend to grow their economies faster, become innovative, improve productivity and provide higher income as well as more opportunities.
Malawi needs trade more than aid. This is why the preliminary statistics from the recent National Agriculture Fair sound promising, at least on paper.
I am saying this because this is not the first time we have heard of such promising deals after either local or international fairs, but little seems to trickle down as the country’s trade balance has remained negative.
Malawi has continued to struggle in international trade despite undertaking several initiatives such as the National Export Strategy and the gospel of value addition and diversification.
In its Commodities and Development Report 2023, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development called for the redoubling of efforts towards economic diversification in countries such as Malawi where 60 percent or more of merchandise export revenues is derived from primary commodities.
It is this dependence on primary commodities that makes Malawi and others vulnerable to economic and political shocks that have hit global commodity markets in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict that disrupted global supply chains.
For Malawi, commodities make up 95 percent of exports in value terms. I note that the theme ‘Driving towards export-oriented agriculture through commercialisation and innovation’ encourages “export-oriented agriculture through commercialisation and innovation”.
This theme should be translated on the ground so that come the next edition of agriculture fair, we should, as a country, be counting the successes instead of lamenting the problems.
Export growth is critical to the attainment of the aspiration in Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development strategy that envisages diversification of export products within the agricultural sector and towards other sectors, including mining and tourism as having potential to make a difference.
Being an agro-based economy, agricultural commodities dominate the country’s export basket with tobacco, sugar, tea, coffee, macadamia nuts and pigeon peas, among others, accounting for the largest exports for the economy.
Platforms such as the National Agriculture Fair provide companies an opportunity to showcase their products and even strike potential partnership deals for expansion as well as penetration into other markets.
It is encouraging to learn that deals worth close to K1 billion have been sealed. Congratulations.
But sealing deals is just the beginning of it all, delivery is what will make a difference. I would implore MCCCI and its partners to put in place a task force of some sort to be monitoring and following up on the said deals. That way, producers will be kept on their toes and accountability enhanced.
It is not uncommon in Malawi to seal deals and “forget” about them. This time around, let us do things differently by ensuring action and delivery.
