By James Kanyenda

Lilongwe, February 16, Mana: Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale says collaboration between government and private sector in agriculture investment remains key in attaining the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) whose one of its three pillars is agriculture productivity and commercialization.

Kawale made the remarks Friday at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe during the Malawi Agriculture Investment Forum organized by Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC) in conjunction with Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

Under FAO’s Hand-in-Hand initiative, Malawi submitted four proposals at a global platform during the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum in Rome, Italy to have investments in Fish Processing Facility and Feed Mill, Commercialization of Banana Production and Processing, Dairy Production and Decentralized Rice Aggregation and Processing Centre.

The investments are expected to directly and indirectly benefit thousands of Malawians.

Kawale said the initiative fits well with the agenda of the Ministry of Agriculture which calls for agriculture commercialization.

“This is consistent with the National Agriculture Policy (NAP) and the National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP), which seek to transform and commercialize the agriculture sector to achieve food, nutrition and income security.

“Our agenda today is to empower agriculture sector players to attract sector investment and explore opportunities for capital investments in various value chains developed under the Hand-in-Hand Initiative,” he said.

He added that Ministry of Agriculture recognizes that for successful implementation of the initiative, both government and the private sector need to take a leading role in mobilizing resources and providing technical support so that together they move Malawi to be a wealthy and self-reliant nation.

Speaking earlier, Assistant FAO Country Representative to Malawi, Dr George Phiri, said the Hand-in-Hand Initiative seeks to eradicate poverty and hunger to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 2 respectively using more advanced tools, apart from contributing towards wealth and job creation, as well as industrialization.

MITC Chief Executive Officer Paul Kwengwere said MITC has already secured export markets for products realized from the Hand-in-Hand initiative.

He however called the investors to sustain the market, adding there is high demand for Malawian products across the globe.

The forum gathered policy makers, financiers and investors who brainstormed in the four investment areas.