Sunday, February 28, 2021
  • About Us
  • ImagiNATION
  • Adverts
  • Rate Card
  • Contact Us
The Nation Online
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home Business Business News

Researchers secure K5.8bn for agriculture transformation

by Moses Michael-Phiri
27/04/2019
in Business News, Front Page
3 min read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on LinkedinLinkedinShare via Email

Michigan State University researchers received a $7.8 million (about K5.8billion) grant from the Agricultural Transformation Initiative to build an independent policy research institute in Malawi dedicated to improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and transforming the country’s agricultural sector.

tobacco | The Nation Online
Malawi is world’s most tobacco-dependent country

According to a statement released by the Michigan State University (MSU), the policy research institute project will address the growing awareness that international demand for tobacco is declining and that developing countries that are highly dependent on tobacco as a cash crop will need support to diversify and transform their rural economies.

RelatedHeadlines

MIN coy on K18bn MZ youth centre

Budget balloons

Public investments under scrutiny

“Forward-thinking initiatives like this are critical to the prosperity of many southern African nations like Malawi, where tobacco accounts for over half of the country’s national export earnings,” said in the statement Thomas Jayne, MSU Foundation professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics. “Malawi is arguably the world’s most tobacco-dependent country, but many other southern African countries will also need an effective transition strategy. This grant is intended to develop and implement such a strategy.” 

To spark this transformation, MSU researchers will work closely with public, private and civil society stakeholders in Malawi to build a platform for transparent and evidence-based public discussion about the ways forward. The foundation for this discussion will be the creation of an autonomous self-sustaining agricultural policy research institute in Malawi.

“This project will address the growing need to facilitate an economic environment in Malawi that can support agricultural diversification,” said Candida Nakhumwa, country director, ATI. “MSU’s expertise in agriculture development will be invaluable in the work to transform the sector in support of smallholder tobacco farmers who are seeking alternative livelihoods.”

“Rural welfare in Malawi will depend on how rapidly the country can find sustainable and profitable income-earning alternatives to tobacco,” Milu Muyanga, an assistant professor in Afre-Malawi, who is working with Jayne on the project is quoted in the statement. “The ATI team reached out to MSU to build a Malawian-led institute that can contribute to the country’s agricultural transformation process.”

Jayne and Muyanga are the principal investigators of the initial three-year grant, which builds upon MSU’s longstanding commitment to capacity development in Africa.

“It’s important to us that our activities in Malawi, and Africa in general, are dedicated to supporting local solutions led by those who have a real and longstanding stake in the outcomes,” Jayne said. “This is a hallmark of the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources work in Africa for decades, and this approach is promoted across MSU through the Alliance for African Partnership.”

The ATI is a core pillar of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, an independent, U.S. non-profit 501(c) (3) organisation with the purpose of improving global health by ending smoking in this generation and supporting the diversification of tobacco-dependent economies.

Previous Post

Over 80 golfers to take part in Mdina tourney

Next Post

Silver reign supreme

Related Posts

Msungama: No objection is
not an enforcement
National News

MIN coy on K18bn MZ youth centre

February 28, 2021
Presenting revised fiscal plan: Mlusu
National News

Budget balloons

February 27, 2021
GRAPH INFRUSTRUCTURE | The Nation Online
Business News

Public investments under scrutiny

February 27, 2021
Next Post
silver | The Nation Online

Silver reign supreme

Opinions and Columns

People’s Tribunal

Burglary at the hill

February 28, 2021
Search Within

Perseverance landed, is alive and well

February 28, 2021
Emily Mkamanga

Tasting your own salt in politics

February 28, 2021
People’s Tribunal

When blood of citizens is on head of leaders

February 28, 2021

Trending Stories

  • Court has declared Escom a private firm

    Court declares Escom private company

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • K1.7bn Chisale assets seized

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Inside Chisale’s seized property

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What the hell is APM doing with BJ?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • HRDC alleges threats, intimidation from investor

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Values
  • Our Philosophy
  • Editorial policy
  • Advertising Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • Plagiarism disclaimer
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use

© 2021 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation

© 2020 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.