Kawale, National Planning Commission exchange fire over ‘delays’ with Mega Farms projects
Fire has been exchanged between two government agencies–the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Planning Commission (NPC)–over the progress of Mega Farms project in the country. Just weeks after the NPC lamented delayed roll out of megafarms, Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale has accused the commission of lacking information.
In an interview, the minister particularly called out NPC head of research Andrew Jamali, saying he deliberately chose not to see the work on the ground and needed to consult the ministry for enlightenment on the matter.
Kawale said Jamali was not happy that the ministry “is doing something positive for the first time”.
He said there is a whole list of farms across the country, arguing that the ministry has funded over 100 farmers through the Megafarm Support Unit.
The minister said: “Greenbelt Authority has megafarms in Thyolo, Mangochi and Salima districts. Malawi National Service has mega farms under Malawi Defence Force. Salima Sugar Company Limited has megafarms. Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources also has mega farms.
“We are moving away from government-owned farms. All farms should be private sector owned. From now on you will not see government go into production, but empower individuals to own farms.”
On how long it will take for the country to start exporting produce from the megafarms, the minister said the country has been reaping benefits for over two years since government started funding megafarms.
Speaking after opening the first Mzuzu University National Research Dissemination Conference on June 5, Jamali said the country can transform within record time if duty-bearers commit and discard the casual approach to implementation of the Malawi 2063 (MW2063) goals.
He said: “On the megafarms initiative, there are studies done to indicate the kind of value chains which are already having markets lucrative enough to augment Malawi’s base in the agricultural sector.
“We need to move with a sense of urgency. Megafarms need to be functional. By now, we could have been talking about products from these farms. Someone is not doing their job right.”
