Prominent politician Ken Msonda who is a member of the National Governing Council (NGC) committee former ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has proved that there are no permanent enemies in politics after declaring his support to Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika.
Ken Msonda has been regarded as the strongest critic of Mutharika making many Malawians linking him to have joined the MCP led government alongside others such as Kondwani Nankhumwa, Grezelder Jeffrey, Nicholas Dausi, among others.
Ken Msonda
Msonda has all the time been in the camp of DPP led by Kondwani Nankhumwa supporting injunctions against injunctions stopping the DPP from moving forward and it was not surprising that many Malawians suspected DPP B as funded by the MCP led government.
Speaking at the start of the DPP NGC meeting held in Mangochi on Wednesday, visibly angry Professor Mutharika, said some of the members of the Party are insulting him everyday especially Ken Msonda telling him openly that he is not a member of the DPP.
Mutharika told the meeting that Msonda came from the Peoples Party (PP) to destroy the DPP inviting him that if he did not like the DPP, he should go back to PP where he belonged with an advice to him, not to destroy the DPP.
“You are not even a member of DPP, if you don’t like this party, go back to the PP where you belong to,” he said.
Ken Msonda thanked Professor Mutharika for being so loving and caring father saying all Malawians had been waiting forwards the holding of the NGC meeting observing that had it been that Mutharika was someone, he could not allow the NGC meeting to take place because of the insults which were directed to him everyday.
He appealed to all DPP members to forget about the past and start focusing on the future arguing that no political party can win elections with a divided house saying with Mutharika’s confirmation that he will stand at the elective conference, the DPP will bounce back into government in 2025.
On the claims that he should go back to his former party-PP, Msonda said he has been in MCP, UDF, and DPP saying he has no point of turning back, his party is DPP and will contest for the position of the party’s Vice President for the North.
The World Food Programme (WFP) launched a partnership with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR Research Center, at COP28 on December 8. The partnership will support private-sector innovators who are scaling climate-smart solutions across food, land and water systems in fragile and conflict-affected communities in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and South America, as part of the CGIAR Initiative on Fragility, Conflict and Migration (FCM).
The CGIAR FCM Innovation Accelerator will be implemented jointly by the WFP Innovation Accelerator and IWMI. The ultimate purpose of this collaboration is to demonstrate how the WFP Innovation Accelerator and CGIAR can jointly leverage their expertise and resources to rapidly scale innovations that promote the resilience of food, land and water systems and social inclusion in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS), including situations with high migration. Partnerships with the private sector, civil society, development partners and research partners will be fostered to encourage the long-term sustainability of innovations. The accelerator will develop collective experience and knowledge in leveraging private sector resources in the design and scaling of innovations in FCAS and build the skills of local innovators.
The objective of the program will be to accelerate eight innovations that can deliver tangible impact to strengthen the resilience of communities in FCAS through the provision of financial, technical, business and investment readiness coaching, as well as marketing skills.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives and changing lives. Building on WFP’s legacy of innovation, the WFP Innovation Accelerator was launched in 2015 to identify, support and scale high-potential solutions to reach zero hunger and address the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by connecting them with WFP’s global network in over 120 countries and territories. The WFP Innovation Accelerator will oversee the operational execution of the FCM Innovation Accelerator Program, leveraging its existing best practices, processes and track record of scaling ventures, in-house grant management, curriculum design and event delivery expertise.
“This partnership shows WFP and CGIAR’s commitment to an innovative, sustainable future. WFP’s climate action prioritizes supporting vulnerable communities in fragile areas. Through our joint ‘Fragility, Conflict and Migration Programme’ with CGIAR, we are looking forward to enabling climate-affected communities to scale their solutions and become climate-resilient” said Bernhard Kowatsch, Head of WFP Innovation Accelerator.
Meanwhile, the CGIAR — as the world’s largest publicly-funded group of agrifood systems research centers — possesses a vast network of expertise, resources, research findings, and capacity. CGIAR will contribute with the definition of challenge areas via a market assessment, coordinate partner network participation, contribute to the selection of teams, and avail technical CGIAR scientists to support selected innovations to generate empirical research which will be incorporated into one results report per team.
A science-based methodology has been developed and validated under the World Bank-funded project called ‘Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa’ (AICCRA). Its agribusiness acceleration models have proven to be highly successful in supporting innovation scaling as well as agribusiness growth, so much so that IWMI has adapted the model for fragile and conflict-affected settings, now being implemented through the Fragility, Conflict and Migration Innovation Accelerator.
The FCM Innovation Accelerator will issue a series of calls for applications, which will be launched in 2024 and 2025. The first call will focus on four countries in Africa and the Middle East Jordan, Nigeria and Yemen. Subsequent calls will focus on Asia and South America. Innovations will focus on water, risk and resilience, anticipatory action, refugee and host communities; migration, mobility and displacement, digital solutions; and crop production, agricultural value and supply chains, sustainable intensification, livestock, food markets.
“So far, the market potential for private sector innovation to increase resilience and catalyze sustainable development in fragile and conflict-affected settings has remained widely untapped,” said Hauke Dahl, Scaling Lead for East and Southern Africa at IWMI. “Our new partnership intends to spotlight these agents of change and to become a benchmark for sustainable development in the humanitarian, development, peace nexus.”
In addition to joining hands to elevate the voices of affected humanity, Sandra Ruckstuhl, Senior Researcher at IWMI and FCM Co-Lead, asserted the need to showcase solutions at COP28 from development finance, agricultural research, and the humanitarian sector to catalyze investments into African food, land, and water systems. She added that their collaborative session will also strive to address systemic issues related to access to finance for green entrepreneurship in Africa.
Public and private stakeholders—including members of the press—are invited to join the session “Partnerships that mobilize investments for climate-resilient food systems in fragile and conflict-affected regions” on Friday, 8 December 2023 from 18:30 to 19:30 Gulf Standard Time at the Food and Agriculture Pavilion (B7, 89), which will also be livestreamed.
Affordable Inputs Program (AIP) beneficiaries have lauded government for early commencement of the 2023/24 AIP selling season, saying the move will enable them plant with first rains and apply fertilizer in time since by the onset of the first rains, they will have the inputs ready.
Speaking recently, AIP beneficiaries in Salima, Nkhotakota, Kasungu and Ntchisi said with the timely purchase of the inputs they foresee high yield in the harvesting season.
Diana Mbale from Bango village, Traditional Authority (TA) Mwadzama, Nkhotakota said during the previous AIP season she only managed to buy one bag out of two, a thing which affected her yield as the selling of inputs came to an end without her accessing Urea fertilizer.
“This year, I have bought two bags already, one for Urea and another one for NPK as well and maize seed before the onset of the rains, this simply means I will continue preparing my land whilst knowing the inputs are under my custody and come rains, I will be able to plant and apply fertilizer in time and realise good harvest in the end,” she said.
Geoffrey Chikaonda, another beneficiary from Damba village under TA Mwadzama in Nkhotakota echoed Mbale’s sentiments, saying all beneficiaries in his area have accessed inputs early this year unlike last year, and with an expectation that everything will be done on time, anticipation for bumper yields is a shared vision in the area.
Sebinati Moyenda, of Bondo village under TA Chilowamatambe, Kasungu said with the timely purchase of the inputs this year, she is hoping for a bumper yield of not less than 50 bags of maize, a thing which will contribute towards food security at her household.
AIP Desk Officer for Kasungu Agriculture Development Division (ADD) Lydia Mkandawire said their beneficiaries would have bought their inputs by the end of AIP selling season, as the program commenced earlier than last year.
“With this, we are hoping that our farmers will be able to harvest enough for their households with surplus to sell and earn income to uplift their lives,” she said.
AIP Desk Officer for Salima ADD, Lonzo Chirwa said the 2023/24 AIP season enjoyed an early launch by President Lazarus Chakwera on 20th October this year with a consideration that a farmer has to have his or her inputs in stock before the onset of the first rains, to avoid inconveniences.
“At first we experienced network challenges but ICT experts solved the issue once for all, now farmers are buying their inputs without challenges. With this timely purchase, our beneficiaries are having ample time to work in their fields so that at the onset of the first rains, everything should run smoothly,” said Chirwa.
Minister of Agriculture Sam Kawale says he is impressed with the pace and progress of Mega farm implementation in the country.
He made the remarks on Tuesday when he toured Lisandwa Farms under Pyxus Agriculture in Kasungu District.
Kawale said the tour was aimed at appreciating the effort which the company is contributing towards the realisation of Mega farm initiative.
He said Government through Ministry of Agriculture will continue to strengthen its relationship with the private sector to enhance agriculture mechanisation and improve crop production through the Mega farm implementation.
Hon Sam Kawale
He said President Dr Lazarus Chakwera’s led administration is committed to revolutionise the agricultural sector with the use of modern technologies such as the use of combine harvesters, tractors and seed planters to create a platform for farmers to embrace modern methods of farming and to have improved agricultural systems inorder to realise the Malawi 2063 vision.
He added that government is planning to add more machinery across the country at both District and Consitituency level, to assist smallholder farmers to have access to the use of agricultural machinery.
In his remarks, Managing Director for Pyxus Agriculture, Ronald Ngwira commended Kawale for making such an exceptional tour saying the company is using combine harvesters and other agricultural machineries as one way of embracing agriculture mechanisation for improved and better agriculture production.
He said Pyxus Agriculture, will continue to partner with government in various agricultural initiatives as one way of propelling and improving the agricultural sector in the country.
“As part of the mega farm private sector implementation, in March next year we want to engage government to map the way forward on the progress of Mega farms, solicit international markets and also on the issue of embracing agriculture mechanisation” said Ngwira.
Lisandwa Farms is currently growing 700 hectares of groundnuts seed to assist groundnuts Mega farm growers in the 2024/25 farming season.
The embattled Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on Wednesday held its NGC meeting amid protests from the DPP vice president from the south Kondwani Nankhumwa’s camp.
Some NGC members that we have talked to have told us that as usual Mutharika used threats to anyone trying to reason in a different way as they think.
Peter Mutharika
Some of the senior members who protested include Nankhumwa himself, Secretary General Gerzeldar Wa Jeffrey, Director of Women Cecilia Chazama, Publicity Secretary Nicholas Dausi and many more senior members from Nankhumwa team.
During the indaba Mutharika as usual openly lambasted some members like Ken Msonda.
Msonda has been openly expressing himself criticising the leadership.
Mutharika asked Ken Msonda to leave the DPP and go back to People’s Party (PP).
Mutharika said Msonda has been rude and insulting to him despite the fact that Msonda joined the DPP from PP.
“I ask you Ken Msonda to go back to People’s Party where you came from. You were not here when we were fighting our battles,” said Mutharika.
He also asked people in the party to remain loyal to the party saying the DPP will get back into government soon.
The DPP leader also highlighted that it is ironic that Leader of Opposition and DPP presidential aspirant Kondwani Nankhumwa has been suing the party for 14 times in the past three years and it is the same party he wants to lead.
He, however, indicated that there is one leader at a time so people should respect that.
