Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) and the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) on Monday signed an agreement aimed at providing ready markets for farmers in cooperatives and associations nationwide.
The MoU signing agreement comes as Admarc is working to get substantial capital in form of a loan.
Admarc was only given K10 billion in the last national budget and the same amount in the K2.2 trillion 2020/21 National Budget for maize purchases, leaving out other crops.
FUM chief executive officer Jacob Nyirongo said the agreement is in readiness for anticipated bumper yield as government will be investing K160.2 billion into the Affordable Input Programme in the 2020/21 season to benefit 4.2 million farming families.
He said the partnership will ensure that farmers in Malawi start accessing better markets that will eventually result in improved performance of the agricultural sector.
“The MoU we have signed today is to ensure that FUM and Admarc are well prepositioned to target regional and international markets. It is not only in numbers, but also in unity that our strength lays”.
Admarc chief executive officer Felix Jumbe said despite capital challenges facing the grain trader, the future of the institution looks bright given the political will from the new government to ensure it is recapitalised to buy all types of crops from farmers.
He said: “By providing ready markets, we can elevate the economic well-being of the majority of smallholder farmers.
“This will in turn help the country to achieve the middle class economy.”
For a long time, farmers in Malawi have struggled to find markets for their produce, which has given room to unscrupulous and profiteering vendors who have exploited farmers by, among other things, buying at a lower than recommended price.
