Ministry commits to revamp livestock sector

Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe says government is committed to develop the livestock sector to increase wealth for farmers and contribute to economic growth.

He made the commitment in Lilongwe yesterday when he launched the five-year National Livestock Development Policy that aims to guide investments in the sector.

Lowe said the livestock sector contributes about 11 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 30 percent to the agricultural output.

He called on the private sector to partner government, saying over the years, individual investors have over the years worked in isolation despite government creating a conducive investment climate.

The minister said: “It still remains much of a huge concern to my ministry that despite the enormous potential that livestock production has, the political will that is there, the conducive environment we continue to make available through policies such as this one, there is still minimal  private sector involvement in the  livestock industry.”

Lowe said there is still potential to be exploited from the livestock sector which will enable the industry to contribute to the economy beyond the current statistics. 

Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture deputy chairperson Ulemu Chilapondwa urged the ministry to implement the plan to revamp the sector.

“As a committee, we are concerned that government livestock infrastructure across the country is in dilapidated state,” he said.

In the 2020/21 fiscal year,  Minister of Finance Felix Mlusu allocated K2.8 billion to the livestock sector, about 1.9 percent of the K142 bilion allocation to the entire agriculture budget.