‘Research coordination key to booming industries’

The African Institute for Corporate Citizenship (AICC) has urged the country’s agriculture stakeholders to improve coordination in research implementation to herald a boom of agro-based industries.
AICC acting chief executive officer Dr Felix Lombe, speaking at a field day on new agriculture innovations based on recent research breakthroughs held at the Natural Resources College (NRC) in Lilongwe, urged companies, research institutions, government and other stakeholders to improve translation of research into industries.
“What we foresee and envisage in the near future is the growth of agro-based companies. The process of linking farmers to various varieties and technologies, for example, has been a flop in this country,” said Lombe.
However, Lombe conceded that ordinary farmers’ access to new technologies remains a challenge.
Director of Extension and technical services in the Ministry of Agriculture Wilfred Lipita applauded AICC for the initiative, saying government was committed to providing a platform for stakeholders to coordinate on several projects and transferring the technologies to the farmers and industry.
“We applaud AICC for organising such a fair to ordinary people because it is the rural small-scale farmers that need the new technologies most,” added Lipita.
Malawi has been attempting to diversify the economy with manufacturing and processing of agro-based products seen as potential areas of growth.
Recently, AICC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Natural Resources College aimed at promoting sustainable agribusiness in the country.