Chakwera’s ambition to feed Africa

President Lazarus Chakwera says his government has confidence to turn Malawi into an inclusively wealthy, self-reliant nation which is well industrialized nations which will transition to an upper middle income economy.

Speaking after an audience with the Food and Agriculture (FAO) Director General, QU Dongyu, he emphasized on the Agriculture, Tourism and Mining (ATM) strategy as a strategy that can accord the country to move into mechanization and commercialization.

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“We need to put emphasis on the ATM strategy so that we move from subsistence farming to commercialization.

“Smallholder farmers can be in groups and cooperatives and be empowered so that we can have more products and then add value to such products. We have industries across the country for the products,” he said.

Chakwera said it has been tough for Malawi with the effects of climate change hence the need for deliberate efforts on irrigation.

According to him, all the irrigation schemes that were no longer functional have been resuscitated and new ones have built and with the help of the World Bank, Malawi expects to have one of the largest irrigation schemes in Southern Africa.

Chakwera assured the UN agency that he will make sure that agriculture becomes big business in the country by utilising water from Lake Malawi for irrigation and create more mega farms to address the El Niño phenomenon which brought hunger in Malawi.

About 5.7 million people this year have affected by hunger.

FAO Director General, QU Dongyu, thanked President Chakwera for his commitment to addressing issues of climate change thereby averting hunger.

Dongyu spoke of his organisation’s commitment to supporting Malawi in irrigation.