Lilongwe, January 30, Mana: Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Tourism met with the Ministry of Trade and Industry together with the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday in the parliament building, where they had a round table discussion on the progress of the Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP) that is taking place in Chikwawa.

Speaking with Malawi News Agency (MANA), Vice Chairperson of the committee, Arthur Chipungu said the aim of the project is to improve agriculture productivity and promote the export process of the country through mega-farms.

“The project is all about collecting water from the Shire River to some areas that are having rain problems through the irrigation canal that is about 140 kilometres,” said Chipungu.      

Geoffrey Mamba, Principal Secretary, Irrigation Services in the Ministry of Agriculture said SVTP is receiving funding from the World Bank and the government saying there has been a significant investment in the project so far.

“About 300 million US dollars are being invested, and besides construction, the funds are also being used to establish cooperatives and provide cooperative education”

“We are improving in terms of our airlines that will be in a position to uplift some of the crops that would be coming from the valley into South Africa and other markets,” said Mamba.

Mamba continued to say that Illovo is one of the companies that will benefit from the canal, and livestock production will also thrive as the area is being transformed through this project.     

More than 25 crops, including cotton, beans, groundnuts, fruits, and vegetables, are being