By George Mponda

Karonga, March 14, Mana: Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Benedicto Chambo, has advised District Councils to prioritize promoting agriculture frontline workers as one way of motivating them to end hunger in Malawi.

Chambo said this in Karonga on Friday during an engagement meeting with agriculture frontline workers from Karonga and Chitipa District Councils.

"With decentralisation, the power to hire, fire and even promote government employees is in the hands of the local authorities therefore District Commissioners in Malawi should make deliberate efforts in councils to promote these officers as one way of motivating them to help end hunger in our country," Chambo said.

The deputy Minister went on to advise local authorities to address challenges faced by agriculture extension workers like accommodation for them to work effectively and boost food security in Malawi.

Agriculture Extension Development Officer for Karonga Agriculture Developmet Division, Emmanuel Mzumara said lack of clear promotion pathways and limited opportunities for career advancement have led to low morale and motivation among them.

Mzumara said; “We have officers who are working on the same grade or on acting capacities up until they retire without getting a promotion. Some of the positions have staff that have advanced their educational qualifications; some have diplomas, degrees with a hope that one day they shall get a promotional letter in addition to the vast experience they possess on the post.

"The recruitment of additional staff is also essential to reduce the vacancy rate that exists. The current shortage of staff has resulted in an increased workload for existing staff, compromising the quality of services delivered to farmers and we appeal to the ministry to recruit more staff to fill existing vacancies," he added.

In his response, District Commissioner for Karonga, Frank Mkandawire said the agriculture human resource department has been devolved to the councils and Karonga is already recruiting new staff.

"We are glad to report here that Karonga has so far recruited 10 new officers in the 2024/25 financial year. On the issues of promotion, this is something that we will continue because as the Deputy Minister indicated, resources for not only recruitment but for the promotions are readily available," Mkandawire said.

"On the accommodation issues, we will lobby members of parliament to allocate some resources from the Constituency Development Fund to deal with poor housing conditions that we have," he added.

He however complained that some ministries have only devolved functions but the assets are still with the parent ministries making it hard for local authorities to maintain these infrastructures.

Karonga ADD has 133 sections and 63 extension workers.