By Robert Katuli

Lilongwe, April 18, Mana: Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) Chief Executive Officer, Jacob Nyirongo has hailed the Sustainable Agriculture Project for supporting smallholder farmers.

He disclosed that 9,000 farming families in Lilongwe alone are among those benefitting from the project.

Nyirongo was speaking on Wednesday when FUM - an implementing partner in the project - accompanied a delegation from We Effect, a Swedish International Development Organization that is coordinating the project, on a tour to Demera Extension Planning Area (EPA) in Lilongwe to appreciate the project's interventions.

He said the project was focusing on building the capacity of Cooperatives by, among others, supporting them with technologies that could build resilience in the face of climate change so that farmers could still get high crop yields in such conditions.

“The Project is helping farmers to combat, among others, food insecurity and malnutrition, as we're training them on things like how they can make manure and how to apply it in their fields.

“Our emphasis is on equipping people to be able to use local materials to sustain farming in the face of increase in price of fertilizer,” Nyirongo explained.

We Effect Secretary General, Anna Tibblin said it was encouraging to see how the local people have taken the initiatives to develop their agriculture in a climate smart way to counter all the challenges facing them.

“These are farmers who see farming as a business. I am impressed with the level of organization, commitment and creativity of the members in these Cooperatives.

“We have seen strong women; we have seen youths that are taking the lead; we have seen a lot of energy, and we have seen well organized infrastructure. These people have the capacity,” Tibblin said.

Central Region Milk Producers Association (CREMPA) Manager, Andrew Chimalizeni, who, together with his team, showcased during the tour what they have done under the Malawi Dairy Value Chain Project, commended We Effect for supporting various projects since 2021.

He said that their focus as farmers was to make sustainable investments that would benefit the farmers beyond the project cycle.

Apart from Lilongwe West, the Sustainable Agriculture Project is being implemented in Ntchisi, Mzimba South and Thyolo, directly targeting 8,750 farmers and other 16,250 farmers indirectly.

The Project is part of a K6 billion Sustainable Partnerships for the Right to Food in Malawi (SP4RFM), a five-year (2023 to 2027) programme for We Effect Malawi under the Sida CIVSAM, which is the Civil Society Unit of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.