By Sheminah Nkhoma

Lilongwe, January 30, Mana: Senior International Researcher Dr Greenwell Matchaya of Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) has called for more investment in agricultural research and innovation to transform food systems in the country.

Speaking as an eminent speaker during the 14th Ndizotheka eminent speakers series on Wednesday in Lilongwe, Matchaya said the country needs to invest in new technologies like the use of artificial intelligence ( AI) to help in agricultural development.

He said, that as a country, Malawi has been doing well in the agricultural sector but there is a need to improve and embrace modern technology in the agricultural.

“As we know the world is developing so like Malawi, we need to change the ways of doing our agricultural system, technology should be used in the agricultural industry like the use of machines in fields can help to improve the productivity of farmers if we want to boost our economy,” said Matchaya.

Director responsible for knowledge and learning at National Planning Commission, Joseph Nagoli said, it is important to do more research so that Malawi can go beyond the normal practice of agriculture and venture into modern farming.

“We should go beyond just producing the food but looking on how best we can benefit from that food including processing the food, human capital development and packaging of agricultural products,” he said.

Programme Manager for livelihood resilience at Oxfam Steve Kulivazi commended the event as it provided stakeholders a platform to discuss ways to improve the country's food systems.

Mwapata Institute, National Planning Commission and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in partnership with Oxfam organized the event with financial support from Germany Cooperation through GIZ.

The event was held under the theme “Leveraging Food Systems Transformation to Achieve Livelihoods Resilience, Nutrition Security and Environment Sustainability in Malawi.