Government says is geared to transform farming

Government has said it is leaving no stone unturned in its effort of transforming the country from subsistence to commercial farming.

Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale said this when he visited Umodzi Wathu Cooperative in Chigumula in Blantyre district.

Umodzi Wathu Cooperative is one of the groups that has received grants from the Agriculture Commercialization (AGCOM).

Kawale said the ministry has lined up a number of programs aimed at encouraging farmers to embrace the agricultural commercialization.

He said government is providing grants and other incentives like tax waiver on the importation some farming equipment including the special tariffs to farmers engaged on agricultural commercialization.

“AGCOM is one of the several programs under the ministry of Agriculture where we are assisting farmers with grants for them to be involved in different types of farming activities to generate the necessary revenue they need at households level as well as a community,” he said

Speaking to the media after the visit, Chairlady for the grouping Silvia Mataka, said they decide to form the group in order to contribute to the country’s development agenda.

Mataka said with the fund the received from AGCOM, they have managed to construct some structures meant for dairy farming.

Mataka was however quick to say the devaluation of the kwacha has also affected their program as it was not matched with their proposed budget.

AGCOM project is a Malawi government flagship programme for transforming smallholder agriculture from mostly subsistence to commercial.