By Chisomo Phiri
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Industrialisation, Business, Trade and Tourism, Wiskes Mkombezi says the government has intensified efforts to diversify the country’s export base by scaling up production in high-potential agricultural value chains, including bananas, soya beans and rice.
Mkombezi, said this on Thursday during the opening of a roundtable discussion on the Ulimi ndi Chilengedwe (UCHI) project at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe.
On his part,Executive Director of Mwapata Institute, William Chadza, said an in-depth analysis of the three crops revealed that production levels remain below both local and international market demand.
He noted that banana production alone has a deficit of about 16 million metric tonnes to meet domestic demand, despite significant export opportunities.
European Union (EU) team leader for Climate, Environment, Agriculture and Resilience, Denisa Salkova, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Resident Representative, Chika Charles Aniekwe, reaffirmed their institutions’ commitment to supporting Malawi’s agricultural commercialisation drive.
The UCHI project, funded by the EU and implemented by the UNDP, seeks to scale up commercial production of bananas, soya beans and rice.
