Abolish socialism to adopt wealth creation policies says Jumbe of Malawi Congress Party
A renowned farmer and executive chairman of the Peacock seed multiplication and farm produce company who is also one of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) presidential aspirant Felix Jumbe has called on government and stakeholders in the social economic development spheres to consider nullification of socialism and adopt worthy creation policies if the country is to move from aid to trade.
Jumbe said this in an exclusive interview with Nyasa Times in Salima during a media tour organized by members of the Forum for Agriculture Reporters in Malawi (FARM) to his seed multiplication plant and the superlative 100 hectare farm which is the hub of his groundnut seed multiplication
business.
The veteran farmer took this opportunity to call upon the relevant authorities to consider bringing in new policies that would help farmers to get the much needed support in a quest to achieve trade and exports in a bid to boost the agriculture sector amid paradigm shift from ordinary farming to commercial farming as one way of improving the country’s social economic status.
Jumbe said it could be imperative to borrow a leaf from other countries such as Brazil, Zimbabwe, and South Africa where farmers are accorded an opportunity to obtain loans at a lower interest rate than all other trade endervours.
On this, Jumbe called upon government and investors to consider opening land banks in the country in order to facilitate agricultural financing for farm development.
“It is high time that we adopt new policies such as reduction of loan interest rates for farming activities because the agricultural sector is the back bone of the country’s economy. It is a very worrisome development that there are stiffer conditions for one to obtain a loan from a bank to boost agriculture just like any other business.
“ I would like to urge the policy formulators and those in authority to consider softening loan conditions for farmers if the country is to develop,” said Jumbe.
The espousal of modern technologies Jumbe said is another critical investment that ought to be ventured into in line with promotion of agriculture in a quest to boost foreign trade and foreign currency generation a development he said this can further help the nation to move away from donor dependency to self-reliance through agriculture.
“I can give you an example of my own farm, I have a 100 hectare land from which I grew and multiply my seeds and preserve some for sell at local markets. I cannot afford to use manual labour to do all this job and I have embraced to new farming technologies and methods that we
are currently using thereby creating employment for other people to operate the machines,” said Jumbe.
According to Jumbe investments in advanced agricultural investments can lead to agricultural revolution where the labour force should move from the rural areas to the urban areas.
Jumbe said the use of herbicides and adoption of new farming technologies has been e success story in the country as we have moved with time as we are living in a global village.
“We need to re-organise our platform and work towards maximizing rain fed productions and consider acceptance of deliberate policies aimed at improving agricultural exports such as irrigation farming and crop rotation,” said Jumbe.
The proud farmer has since finalized the purchase of a farm which the late Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda visited with Prince Charles in 1987 when it was at the peak of its production but is currently idle.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :
