Parliamentary Committee impressed with ACADES Cooperative Group

The committee’s Chairperson, Noel Lipipa, expressed the sentiments on Friday during the committee’s visit to the cooperative’s offices at M’bwatalika in Lilongwe where it has constructed an 80-metric- ton warehouse as well as a factory.

Lipipa said cooperative groups play a vital role in job creation and improving the living standards of ordinary farmers in the country, hence the need to empower and work hand in hand with them.

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“We are aware that our country is not developed, as a result, unemployment is high and, therefore, cooperative groups need to play a significant role in creating jobs for communities.

“There is a need to empower these young energetic youths with some resources that can boost their business,” he said.

Lipipa added that as a committee, they would scrutinize some of the challenges ACADES Cooperative Group is facing so that they are assisted in overcoming the challenges to make it a successful group.

“This must be a perfect example to some youths in the country to not just be idle but start entrepreneurship that can improve their living standards,’’ Lipipa said.

In his remarks, Secretary for Public Sector Reforms, Dr. Luckie Sikwese, emphasized the need for empowering the youth and promoting a good environment for them to thrive.

“There is impact in empowering the youth, as we can see today that ACADES has benefited a lot from the loans they obtained and they have come up with a well-established cooperative group that is producing many things.

“They are also able to trade outside the country. If we can help them to achieve their goal that means many people are going to benefit from this project,’’ said Sikwese.

Secretary for ACADES Cooperative Group, Chrissy Jafali, highlighted challenges the group is facing, mostly due to the lack of electric power at their premises.

ACADES Cooperative Group is a network of over 300 youths in agribusiness, which is aimed at promoting youth investments in agribusiness through the provision of access to production resources, market linkages, skill development, and networking for the youth in agribusiness.

The cooperative operates in Lilongwe, Mchinji, and Kasungu among other districts.