Malawi’s President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has highlighted the significance of cultural gatherings in uniting people, stressing the crucial role traditional leaders play in maintaining peace within communities.
He made these remarks during the Chewa Heritage Foundation (CHEFO) Fundraising Dinner at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Saturday evening.
President Chakwera expressed gratitude to the CHEFO committee for inviting him, calling the event “a great opportunity” to connect with the Chewa community.
Chakwera
He urged Malawians to recognize that “we are all one people before God” and emphasized the need for peaceful coexistence among the country’s diverse cultural groups.
“As we celebrate, let us learn to live harmoniously with others from different backgrounds to ensure lasting peace in our country,” he said.
Furthermore, President Chakwera encouraged traditional leaders to take the lead in mobilizing citizens to vote in the upcoming September 16 elections and to promote peace throughout the campaign period.
CHEFO Chairperson Dr. Stanley Khayira echoed the President’s call for unity and outlined the foundation’s key priorities, which include supporting Malawian participants attending the Kulamba Ceremony in Zambia, constructing permanent CHEFO offices, and preserving Chewa cultural heritage.
Malawi’s Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, has officially opened a new outpatient department structure at Chamwabvi Health Centre in Kasungu, underscoring the government’s commitment to quality healthcare delivery.
Minister Chiponda highlighted that over 250 health posts have been constructed nationwide to bolster healthcare services.
Director of Health Services for Kasungu District, Dr. Emmanuel Golombe, expressed gratitude for the new structure, noting it will significantly enhance patient dignity and privacy.
The K200 million facility was constructed under the Health Rehabilitation Fund.
This development aligns with Minister Chiponda’s advocacy for improved healthcare infrastructure across Malawi.
Recently, she emphasized the importance of climate resilience in healthcare, highlighting Malawi’s efforts to combat climate-sensitive diseases like cholera and malaria.
Malawi’s Vice President, Dr. Michael Usi, has arrived at the Awaza National Tourist Zone in Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan, ahead of the upcoming UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries.
This high-profile event, scheduled to start tomorrow and conclude on Friday, is a crucial platform for Malawi to forge strategic partnerships for economic growth.
Dr. Usi was delegated to the conference by President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and was warmly welcomed upon his arrival at the Berkarar Hotel by Malawi’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Agnes Chimbiri Molande, alongside other esteemed dignitaries.
Usi
During the conference, Vice President Dr. Usi is expected to engage in pivotal bilateral and multilateral talks with key countries, including Turkmenistan and Portugal, as well as development partners like the United Nations.
The primary focus of these discussions will be to position Malawi for significant growth in trade and secure partnerships that drive economic development.
This conference presents a valuable opportunity for Malawi, as a landlocked developing country, to address its unique challenges and unlock its full potential, aligning with the broader goals of the UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries.
In a compelling and visionary manifesto unveiled for 2025, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has laid out a comprehensive blueprint designed to revolutionize Malawi’s agricultural sector.
This manifesto, rich in actionable strategies and ambitious targets, demonstrates a profound commitment to empowering farmers across all scales—from smallholders to large estates—and securing the nation’s food sovereignty.
With bold reforms, innovative financial mechanisms, and a keen focus on modern technology, the DPP is poised to ignite a new era of agricultural prosperity in Malawi.
*Revitalizing Access to Crop Production Inputs*
At the heart of the manifesto is a determined effort to ensure timely access to improved, quality, and affordable crop production inputs. This initiative targets all farmer categories, including smallholder, medium, and large estates.
The DPP intends to tackle supply chain logistical challenges head-on, aiming to reduce the cost of farm inputs significantly.
By developing a fertilizer production plant domestically, the party will not only reduce dependence on imports but also stimulate local industrial growth, creating jobs and boosting the economy.
Moreover, the revival and reformation of the Farm Inputs Subsidy Programme (FISP) is a masterstroke that will directly benefit poor smallholder maize farmers.
The programme’s focus on farmers with land, ability to farm, and membership in well-organized and trained clubs ensures that resources are efficiently allocated to those most in need and capable of maximizing productivity.
*Innovative Financial Support for Farmers*
Recognizing that access to finance is a critical barrier for many farmers, the DPP manifesto proposes establishing a farm credit financing facility.
This facility will be designed to serve cooperatives, medium/emerging farmers, and large estate farmers, managed by commercial banks.
This financial lifeline is expected to unlock much-needed capital for investment in farm inputs, mechanization, and infrastructure, thereby enhancing productivity and profitability.
The manifesto also promises to promote the availability of affordable seeds and planting materials, a move that will increase crop diversity and resilience.
By providing fiscal incentives for the production of high-value non-traditional crops such as industrial hemp, flowers, horticulture, rice, wheat, legumes, cotton, macadamia, and pulses, the DPP is diversifying Malawi’s agricultural portfolio, opening doors to lucrative markets and export opportunities under the National Export Strategy II (NES II).
*Transforming Irrigation and Industrial Farming*
To reduce Malawi’s heavy reliance on rain-fed agriculture, the manifesto prioritizes the promotion of irrigation farming.
This includes providing financial instruments such as matching grants and preferential financing for smallholder farmers, as well as credit facilities for medium and large estates.
The ambitious target to increase land under irrigation from 116,000 hectares in 2025 to 147,000 hectares by 2030 is a clear indication of the party’s commitment to climate resilience and food security.
Additionally, the establishment of two government-owned model industrial farms, each spanning 12,500 hectares, reflects the DPP’s forward-looking approach.
These farms will allocate 16,000 hectares for food security crops and 9,000 hectares for high-value plantations, setting a standard for large-scale, efficient agricultural production.
Coupled with efforts to attract private investments into 60,000 hectares of industrial farms by 2030, Malawi’s agricultural landscape is set for a dramatic transformation.
*Revamping Agricultural Marketing and Commodity Management*
The manifesto also addresses critical gaps in agricultural marketing and commodity management.
The proposed reform of the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) into a fully functional commercial entity with local and international market linkages is a vital step toward creating a robust value chain.
This move is expected to enhance market access, stabilize prices, and ensure fair returns for farmers.
Complementing this is the revitalization of the Commodity Exchange, which will facilitate transparent and efficient transactions of commodities with guaranteed quality, delivery, and payment.
By ensuring that the Malawi Strategic Grain Reserves maintain a stock of no less than 150,000 metric tonnes at any time, the DPP is fortifying the country’s food security buffer against shocks such as droughts or price volatility.
*Championing Climate-Smart and Mechanized Agriculture*
The manifesto’s emphasis on climate-smart agriculture technologies and resilient farming practices highlights the DPP’s responsiveness to climate change challenges.
By promoting research and implementation in this area, the party is safeguarding the sector’s future productivity and sustainability.
Understanding that agricultural mechanization has been hampered more by supply-side constraints than demand, the DPP pledges to foster an enabling environment for improved access to machinery and equipment.
Fiscal incentives for importing high-value irrigation equipment and support for producing low-cost, small-scale farm machinery through public-private partnerships (PPP) will significantly enhance mechanization rates, reduce labor-intensive work, and improve efficiency.
*Strengthening Cooperative Models and Market Linkages*
The manifesto advocates for the establishment of anchor farms, cooperative groups, and village grain banks, which will serve as pillars for rural economic development and food security.
These structures are designed to empower farmers by pooling resources, facilitating bulk marketing, and managing storage effectively.
To expand market access, the DPP plans to create new structured markets for prioritized agricultural commodities, reform existing commodity exchanges, and promote contract farming and out-grower schemes.
These interventions will create stable, predictable income streams for farmers and attract private sector participation, fostering a vibrant, market-driven agricultural economy.
*Boosting Fish Farming and Livestock Productivity*
Recognizing the importance of diversified agricultural livelihoods, the manifesto includes robust support for fish farming.
By constructing ponds and dams in rural areas and facilitating fish feed availability, the DPP aims to increase fish production among smallholder, medium, and large-scale farmers.
This will improve nutrition and income for rural communities.
Livestock production and productivity will also receive a boost through community participation in breeding programs, pass-on schemes for cattle, goats, and chickens among poor smallholders, and pest and disease control initiatives.
Strengthening breeding programs in government farms will further enhance genetic stock and productivity, contributing to increased meat, milk, and egg supplies.
*A Manifesto Poised to Catalyze Agricultural Renaissance*
The DPP’s 2025 manifesto is an inspiring and meticulously crafted document that addresses the multifaceted challenges facing Malawi’s agricultural sector.
By combining fiscal incentives, financial support mechanisms, infrastructural development, market reforms, and climate-smart practices, the party has charted a clear path toward a resilient, diversified, and prosperous agricultural economy.
If implemented with dedication and transparency, these policies will empower Malawian farmers, reduce poverty, ensure food security, and stimulate economic growth.
The DPP’s manifesto deserves commendation for its visionary approach and actionable plans that promise to transform Malawi’s agricultural landscape and uplift the livelihoods of millions.
Malawians and stakeholders across the agricultural value chain have every reason to watch this space keenly, as the DPP sets the stage for a new dawn in the nation’s farming sector—one defined by innovation, inclusivity, and sustainable growth.
Former president of the Republic of Malawi who is also DPP leader Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, has lamented that 4 weeks ago, his lawyers wrote MACRA Director General Daud Suleiman to stop MBC from airing programmes that are castigating him every day but to this day, he has received no response.
Mutharika has assured Suleiman that he will see him on the 16th September, 2025 elections saying Malawians will get the answer why Suleiman has been watching MBC insulting and castigating him, the ballot will speak.
Mutharika
Speaking at the launch of the DPP 2025 manifesto and campaign in Blantyre, Professor Mutharika said he accepted to stand for the fourth time as President to liberate the country assuring Malawians that he doesn’t come for personal gains but for the love of DPP and Malawians.
Mutharika said in 2018 at the Livingstonia CCAP Synod in Mzuzu he warned Malawians that if they are not going to be careful, evil will one -day rule the country observing that Malawians are in slavery of hunger, no money in their pockets, and people are fearing government.
He said people should respect government not fearing it saying it is the duty of government to make its people happy, listen to their concerns and grievances and finding solutions to their problems observing that this is lacking in the current government.
The former President said Malawians need a government that respects the constitution and the rule of law assuring the people that DPP is not a government of hacking people with pangas and stopping peaceful demonstrations.
He said he has been on the top of Mulanje mountain and he saw the promised land, assuring Malawians that he will take them to Canaan not Bagamoyo advising all to hold hands together to reach Canaan and not to be like the wife of Lot in the Holy Bible who turned into a pillar of salt.
Mutharika challenged all those that are receiving K50,000s as handouts to receive the money arguing that no one can refuse to be given money but, on the voting day, don’t vote for them, what they are being given, is their money collected from taxes.
“Receive the handouts, that is your money from taxes, if I can be given the money, I will also receive, but I won’t vote for them,” he said.
Mutharika assured Malawians that the DPP has never failed in its manifesto reminding Malawians that in 2014, they promised the economy to be back on track, technical colleges, and to end hunger, saying all these were fulfilled.
