President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Friday launched Linga Mega Farm in Nkhata Bay with a call to Malawians to work hard in the field for the country to achieve its social and economic aspirations.

Chakwera stressed that agriculture remains one of the pillars upon which Malawi can grow its economy.

Speaking to the crowd of people that attended the event, the Head of State said the launch of Linga Mega Farm in Nkhata Bay is a clear manifestation that his flagship mega farm drive has steadily taken off.

Since pre-election campaign, the mega farm idea has been at the heart of President Chakwera’s transformation agenda which seeks to end hunger and poverty both at household and national level in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number one (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger) and Malawi Vision 2063 Pilar number 1(Agriculture productivity and commercialization).

The mega farm concept aims at establishment of large scale production units at one place with having all necessary supporting resources, which includes human, capital, equipment and infrastructure from land preparation to marketing.

The major component at Linga Mega Farm is an irrigation scheme which is supporting over 800 small scale farmers in rice and beans production. 

Currently, the scheme covers 450 hectares and will reach 500 hectares by the end of this year. At its fullest utilization, the irrigation scheme has the potential to cover over 2500 hectares.

In the coming months, the mega farm will have agro-processing facilities to support value addition to the yield from the farmers.

Currently, over 300 entrepreneurs are undergoing training at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources to equip them with requisite technical expertise on how best to produce market-ready items.