ACE DATES MCHINJI FARMERS
By Frank kadzakumanja
Since the Government of
Malawi has elevated agriculture and nutrition as key national
policy priorities to improve the economy, ACE
continues to implement a holistic
approach to Agricultural Marketing program under the
Integrating Nutrition into Value Chain (INVC) program to harness
Malawi's agriculture potential by linking farmers to better
markets. With most of the
Malawi's' population engaging in agriculture, its imperative to
market grain so that small scale farmers reap the benefits of
better prices from better markets. As Agricultural Commodity
Exchange (ACE) continues to reach out to more farmers,
sensitization meetings were
conducted in Mchinji which
is 109 km from the Capital City of Lilongwe and
12 km from the Zambian Border.
ACE's Partnerships and Training Manager,
E.Chamgwera addressing the gathered
crowd
|
 Women listening
to a presentation by an ACE official
|
The sensitizations were conducted
from the 18th to 20th September this year at
manthula, chimosola, kamlilika, mphalabungu, mpachika and nkhwazi
area. Meetings involved world vision officials and government field
officers. Discussions focused on ACE's three components, namely
trade facilitation, market information system and the warehouse
receipt system (WRS). Farmers were delighted to learn that ACE
links farmers to better markets and that they can also have access
to finance when they store their commodity in an ACE certified
warehouse. Many small scale farmers expressed ignorance on market
prices and after the meetings; they were very excited to learn that
ACE sends market price information about commodities of their
choice when they register their mobile numbers.
Speaking on the closing day of the
meetings, Mr Yafet Kanyinji who is Development Facilitator for Word
Vision international in Likasi hailed ACE for the initiative. "The
meeting that we had with farmers generated issues to do with
collective marketing and benefits of professional storage, I know
that after the meetings, farmers are now more aware of what to do
after harvest," he said.
Mchinji being one of
the areas that produces Mchinji being one of the areas that
produces maize grain in bulk, ACE is already working with two
Kulima Gold Deposit points and plans to open a warehouse. Speaking
on behalf of ACE, The partnerships and Training manager for ACE,
Miss Edna Changwera said that now is the time for farmers to start
taking farming as a business. "We at Ace are there to link you
farmers to better markets and professional storage which gives you
access to finance, most farmers get ripped off by traders who buy
at low prices and later sell to up markets at higher prices, at the
end you will note that it is the farmer who suffers most." She
said.
In Malawi, high population density
and growth, along with a single rainy season per year with little
use of irrigation, pose a distinctive set of challenges that make
Malawi's agricultural growth precarious and make it chronically
susceptible to food insecurity. It is for this reason that ACE is
committed to promoting the Warehouse receipt system (WRS) and is
also facilitating fair trade so that farmers benefit more at the
end of the value chain. This roundly successful experience has set
a precedent for cooperation among farmers, traders as well as banks
to push Malawi further in terms of economic development.