Local farmers have an opportunity to produce and sell 880 tonnes of mangoes to Malawi Mangoes, a Salima-based commercial fruit farming and processing enterprise, for the export market.
The allocation of 880 tonnes represents 25 percent of the company’s total market requirement, according to its outreach manager Victor Mshani.
He said the allocation is specifically for mango farmers who are part of the European Union (EU)-funded Market Led Smallholder Development for Poverty Alleviation in Malawi programme.
“We are working with 11 associations and each has six hectares of mango trees. Each group is expected to produce 80 tonnes of mangoes per year and when we add them, the total is coming to 880,” said Mshani.
Msaza Horticulture Cooperative in Traditional Authority (T/A) Khombedza, is one of the cooperatives expected to benefit from the arrangement.
The cooperative’s chairperson Reuben Mkwezalamba said the group is expected to start harvesting mangoes in the next two years.
“Malawi Mangoes has given us solar panels, an underground water pump and pipes for irrigation farming,” he said.
Mkwezalamba said the farmers have an agreement with Malawi Mangoes in terms of technical support and market arrangement.
Through Farm Income Diversification Programme (Fidp) II, EU is promoting nutrition and agribusiness in rural communities. n
