Posted on April, 30, 2019 at 10:15 am
Written by Peter Chilenga
Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development has established a National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP) in Mulanje as one way of boosting the agricultural sector.
The five-year initiative was presented in a District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting which was held Thursday at Mulanje District Council.
Assistant Coordinator in the ministry, Hennock Malenga said NAIP is designed to achieve sustainable agricultural transformation.
“The programme will ensure that in five years, there is significant growth of the agricultural sector, expanding incomes for farm households, improved food and nutrition security for all Malawians and increased agricultural exports," Malenga said.
Asked on the practicality of the programme, he said some of the programme’s activities are already in practice which means its implementation will be an extension of those activities.
“Considering what the agricultural sector has achieved so far, it is quite obvious that we have the capacity to implement this programme since we already have the structures to operate on and some of the activities are already in practice,” he said.
The of the Donor Committee in Agriculture and Food Security, Roman Malumelo said the programme will also mainstream gender to ensure women are equally participating in the agricultural sector.
“NAIP also looks at land rights as a way of empowering women to have access to land ownership so they can establish their own agricultural sites,” he said.
The district council’s Director of Planning and Development, Mercy Mpakule hailed the ministry’s initiative, saying NAIP is a well thoughtful plan which can change the country’s economy if it is followed by a well thoughtful implementation.
“The presentation has been an eye-opener, especially on the agricultural policies and as much as this is a very beautiful plan it requires a very beautiful implementation to achieve its goals,” he said.
Source: Malawi News Agency (MANA Online)