President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera is leaving no stone unturned in his dedication to secure a solid implementation of Mega Farms project implementation in Malawi.
On sidelines ahead of the official opening event of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78), President Chakwera met up with Dr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger, operating on a goal of ensuring that sovereign nations achieve food security.
Selling FAO the initiatives that Malawi has recently undertook in upgrading the agriculture sector, President Chakwera emphasized on the critical need for substantial investment in the sector to achieve sustainability and enhanced productivity.
“We are actively seeking support for capital-intensive irrigation initiatives aimed at developing 124,515 hectares by 2035, requiring a total investment of $1.9 billion, to be phased over the specified period,” Chakwera said.
Shifting from small scale hand-tool farming system to large scale commercial mechanized farming, President Chakwera envisions the country drifting away from period hunger to sustainable food sufficiency that boosts other sectors of economy.
He made implementation of mechanized mega farms as one of his prominent campaign promises and just like he is delivering on other promises bordering on electricity and road infrastructure developments among others, Chakwera’s administration has hit the ground running since last year in implementing on the mega farms dream.
For example, the Malawi National Service, a developmental arm of the Malawi Defense Force (MDF) was last year funded by Government to operate Gada farm. The farm which sits on 1,650ha of land is located in Mchinji district.
The farm’s maize output from last farming season has since been deposited into the Government’s Strategic Grain Reserves Facilities (SGFR). Several other farms have been launched across the country with the most recent being in Nkhatabay district.
In his remarks to FAO, President Chakwera underscored that the development of irrigation infrastructure is pivotal to transforming the agricultural landscape.
