By Nellie Nyirenda

Mana April 6, Blantyre: In a bid to avoid post-harvest losses, Tehirah Bakeries, in collaboration with the Centre for Resilient Agri-Food Systems (CRAFS) at the University of Malawi, organised a two-day training for Blantyre and Zomba farmers on sweet potato value addition.

Under the theme: Good Agriculture Practices and Post-Harvest Management, the training was held recently at Lunzu Rural Training Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture to empower farmers from the two districts with skills and knowledge to turn the crop into reliable food against hunger and poverty.

Tehirah Bakeries Director, Jean Pankuku said sweet potato was capable to play a pivotal role in addressing food insecurity if grown on larger scale.

“Sweet potato is one of the most climate-resilient crops. With the unpredictable weather pattern we are experiencing, potato offer a sustainable solution to minimising hunger in Malawi.

“Beyond just eating potatoes, we can make bread, biscuits, and flour to reduce our dependence on imports and opening up income opportunities,” she added.

Associate Professor of Food Science at the University of Malawi, Victoria Ndolo challenged farmers to rethink how they treat their harvest.

“Farmers should normalise reserving part of their harvest for household consumption rather than putting everything up for sale. Climate-resilient crops like sweet potatoes are key in mitigating climate change related hunger and improving livelihood,” she said.

The training was combined practical and theoretical aspects such that on the second day, farmers learnt hands-on techniques to improve yield, manage harvests, and transform sweet potatoes into profitable food products.

Each cooperative farmer group was encouraged to brainstorm and decide on a sweet potato-based business they wanted to pursue ranging from baking, flour production to   snack making.

Tehirah Bakeries and CRAFS were committed to provide support and follow-ups, to ensure acquired skills and knowledge on potato growing and value adding take root to grow into sustainable enterprises.

A farmer from Matindi in Blantyre, Saidi Banda hailed Tehrah and CRAFS for organising the training, saying skills and knowledge gained was life-changing.

“I gained a lot of new ideas and skills. I learnt how to produce flour, and bake using sweet potatoes.

“I will go back home with a lot of skills and knowledge and will put this into use. This will help farmers start small businesses instead of selling everything after harvesting.” he added

As Malawi continues to grapple with climate change related challenges, alternative initiatives in value addition signal a shift from vulnerability to resilience and from survival to sustainable growth.

With sweet potato at the center, Banda expressed hope that the trained farmers   sowed seeds of transformation their fields and sustainable future.