The Malawi Investment Trade Centre (MITC) has challenged farmers to export secondary products to help the country generate enough foreign exchange.
Speaking on Friday at a Foundation for Irrigation and Sustainable Development (FISD) in Lilongwe, MITC official Foster Nyirenda said if Malawians export processed products the country’s forex situation will improve.
“There are huge opportunities in agriculture and few people who exploit these opportunities and export their produce are making a killing. What is needed is a change of mindset that even ordinary farmers can also export their produce,†he said.
Nyirenda, however, said most farmers fail to take advantage of these opportunities because they work as individuals and not groups.
“What is required to benefit from these regional trade opportunities are strong networks,†he said.
Nyirenda said crops such as rice, groundnuts, soya beans and maize are in high demand in neighbouring countries.
FISD director Kondwani Nanchukwa said his institution deliberately engaged MITC to share experiences with its students.
“FISD is a college which teaches irrigation farming, agribusiness and we thought we should invite MITC to empower our students with information on how to go about it in exporting agricultural produce,†said Nanchukwa.
He said the college is talking to commercial banks to give its students loans so that they can put into practice what they learnt.
