Alliance One donates bicycles worth K3.6m

Alliance One, a major tobacco buying company has given 75 bicycles worth around K3.6 million to farmers who lead fellow tobacco farmers and it plans to distribute additional 200 bicycles.

The Company’s Agronomy services coordinator, Hitherwick Nkhuzenje handed over the bicycles on behalf of the company in Lilongwe on Wednesday.

“These farmers help us coordinate our activities within a given zone so it was felt necessary and important that we procure and distribute the bicycles to them so that they easily reach out to fellow farmers they look after. They had expressed a concern to us that they were facing transport challenges,” said Nkhuzenje.

The farmer leaders who got the bicycles are selected by fellow farmers to and coordinate tobacco growing activities and link them with Alliance One.

“We have ordered 200 more bicycles to be distributed this season,” added Nkhuzenje.

One of the lead farmers who received a bicycle Kefa Chafukila, zonal leader at Nambuma where he looks after 63 farmer clubs, indicated that the bicycles will ease their mobility and delivery of work.

“The bicycle is going to help me and my colleagues a lot in our job by easing transportation challenges that we face. As someone who looks after so many farmers, I do travel a lot and a bicycle is a reliable means of transport in the rural areas,” said Chafukila.