By Salome Gangire

Neno, July 17, Mana: Minister of Trade and Industry, Sosten Gwengwe has urged Malawians to promote Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives by buying their products.

He was speaking on Tuesday at Nthena Cooperative in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Symon where he visited three cooperatives under UMODZI Consulting Limited.

The Minister said primary market for business people is the local market, adding that there was need to provide good market for locally produced goods other than buying imported goods.

“Our moral responsibility as Malawians is to promote our own SMEs and cooperatives and this should start by buying their products. When we buy imported goods, we are promoting oversees SMEs and at the same time we are creating jobs for people outside Malawi at the expense of our fellow Malawians,” Gwengwe added.

The Minister said in countries like Kenya, the cooperative movement is huge because they support one another by buying locally produced goods.

Gwengwe said government would make sure that Malawians buy locally produced and manufactured goods through the Buy Malawi campaign.

The Minister urged farmers to form cooperatives and adopt integrated farming systems and to venture into value additional for easy markets and profit making.

He said his Ministry under Department of Cooperatives is training farmers, putting them in cooperatives so that they should produce quality goods in large quantities.

“I am impressed with the quality and variety of crops grown by the farmers at the cooperatives and am glad that the cooperative movement is not only transforming the nutrition status of the people but also their livelihood,” Gwengwe said.

The Minister disclosed that government would table a Control of Goods Act in the September, 2024 Parliament sitting so as to amend it and make regulations on the list of products that could be put under licence to promote industries that should in turn create more jobs.

Country Programmes Coordinator for USADF, Linda Ndovi said USADF work with SMEs and cooperatives that are doing value additional in the agri-business sector and the youth among others.

She emphasized the importance of employing environmentally friendly farming techniques.

Chairperson of Matembe Cooperative Producers Ltd, Mighty Feremu said LIP help them to improve nutrition status of people in the area as they grow a variety of crops and rearing livestock.

He said the agricultural activities improved cooperative member’s livelihood as they sell crops and buy shares in the cooperative.

Feremu asked the Ministry of Trade and Industry to help them get registered with the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) so that they are able to supply their goods to big markets and chain stores.

The Cooperatives are part of the 14 cooperatives in Neno District under the Livelihood Improvement Project (LIP) being implemented by Umodzi Consulting with funding from Helmsley Charitable Trust through the United States African Development Foundation (USADF).

Over 4, 417 participants in the 14 cooperatives benefit from the project in the district of which 2,268 are patients suffering from non-communicable diseases.

By Beatrice Bangula

Blantyre, July 17, Mana: Communities of Group Village Head (GVH) Kunthembwe have advised to restore degraded land and adhere to modern and environmental friendly agricultural practices.

MWASIP Technical Team member, Boniface Kaulembe said this Tuesday at Kunthembwe Village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Kunthembwe during the launch of Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP) at Blantyre.

He said communities are expected to adopt conservation agricultural practices and should help to increase their food production for sustainable livelihood.

Kaulembe He said MWASIP objectives include mobilizing communities to carry out activities to do with sustainable land management that are meant to increase food production and at the same time conserve and protect the environment.

“With such objectives, we are today launching activities so that farmers should continue doing activities that should help to address land degradation,” he added.

Communities at Kunthembwe in Blantyre rural are expected to participate in afforestation, conservation agriculture and other related activities that are meant to restore watershed in the area.

“There are a lot of activities which MWASIP is promoting ranging from afforestation to manure making and other practices that are meant to restore degraded land to conserve water,” Kaulembe said, adding that farming communities are encouraged to practice homestead farming which promote issues to do with nutrition.

“We are encouraging farmers to use manure from livestock so that they should apply in their homestead gardens,” Kaulembe added.

Director of Agricultural Services for Blantyre District Council, Edward Katunga said land degradation in form of soil erosion is going out of hand that needs urgent intervention to check the trend.

He commended MWASIP for launching watershed management at Traditional Kunthembwe’s area and expressed hope that communities would adopt correct practices that should help to address land degradation.

“We hope, we will achieve sustainable practices in afforestation and other agricultural practices that will address issues to do with land degradation,” the Director added.

Senior Chief Kunthembwe said the launch was relevant saying his subjects would learn a lot from MWASIP activities which are expected to promote catchment management and other environmental and agricultural related activities.

“The launch has come at the right time and I hope that my subjects will learn a lot of activities. We have seen how manure is made and have seen importance of swalles which keep water in the gardens,” he added.

MWASIP encourage communities to rear small and large livestock at household level for food nutrition and for cost effective soli improvement.

The launch at Group Village head, Kunthembwe provided an opportunity for community members and other stakeholders in agriculture and environment sector to showcase a lot of activities such as making and use of energy efficiency stoves that are meant to discourage overdependence of large volumes of firewood at household level.

By Isabel Banda

Lilongwe, July 16, Mana: National Aids Commission (NAC) has said its initiatives to get an Aids free nation by 2030 in the coming generation was proving to be successful.

Speaking with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Tuesday in Lilongwe, Acting HIV Protection and Prevention Officer for NAC, Francis Mabedi said that the main aim for these groups were to give access to the youth with information about HIV and its preventive measures.  

“These groups have been put in place so that they can help youths have access to all the HIV services and information that the country offers,

The groups are special for youths living with HIV and AIDS and they provide support by looking at issues concerning stigma, discrimination among peers and providing awareness to the masses so as to curb the spread of the virus as we are working on 95:95:95 project which is targeting the elimination of HIV as a public health by 2030,” he said.

Mabedi added that in the past many young people have been contracting the virus because they were not aware of the ways they could catch the virus but because of these groups many of them now are aware of the preventive measures and the dangers that the virus could cause to the human body.

“The other challenge that these groups were facing was lack of drug adhering among youth which led to increase in numbers of high viral load in hospitals and high number of deaths due to HIV and AIDS,” he added.

One of the group members that has benefitted from this initiative, Eliana chitsamba (not her real name) said, the group has helped her a lot when it comes to getting her lost self esteem back.

“The group has been like a second home to me in a way that I feel free to meet my friends in the same group and encourage each other on how we can improve our lives and be like any other person,

This initiative has helped me to be more self-confident and now I am able to join my fellow youths in doing things that I was unable to do due to low self-esteem,” she explained.

The 95:95:95 strategies were launched in 2014 by the joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS.

The aim is to diagnose 95 percent of all HIV positive individuals, provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) For 95 percent of those diagnosed and achieve viral suppression for 95 percent of those treated by 2030.

By Blessings Memena

Mzuzu, July 16, Mana: Executive Director for Malawi Health Equity Network (MHEN), George Jobe has urged government and other stakeholders to encourage people to continue observing preventive measures of Cholera.

According to him, it was good news to know that Cholera outbreak which started in March 2022 has now been declared to have ended however he has warned against laxity.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Tuesday in Mzuzu, Jobe said laxity could lead to another Cholera outbreak as the rainy season was approaching. 

“Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) together with other council officials should ensure there is good sanitation and hygiene in our markets.

“There is need for government and different stakeholders to emphasize through media and community leaders that people should continue to observe preventive measures like washing hands with soap, good sanitation and hygienic practices and avoiding handshakes,” he said.

Jobe asked government to continue with water and sanitation projects aimed at providing safe water to the public.  

“Potable water is key in the fight against Cholera hence government should continue projects that provide safe water to people like sinking boreholes and provision of piped water by our water boards,” he said.

Ministry of Health declared in a Press Statement on July 12, 2024 that Cholera outbreak that started in 2022 has ended.   

The Outbreak had been declared a public health emergency on December 5, 2022 by President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera.

By Martin Chiwanda

Machinga, July 16, Mana: People in Machinga have realized that digital banking and payment channels provide rural populations with access to formal financial services that may not be readily available in their respective communities.

The residents made the observation in an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) as government through the Reserve Bank of Malawi conducted an awareness campaign in the district encouraging people to embrace electronic transaction platforms.

Ngulumia Village Development Committee Chairperson, Moses Mlanga, said apart from promoting access to formal financial services, it helps promote financial inclusion by giving people in the community the opportunity to save, borrow and manage their money more effectively.

Mlanga noted that using digital payment methods eliminates the need for rural populations to travel long distances to access traditional banking services as they can conveniently make payments, transfer money and conduct other transactions in the comfort of their home or local points of service.

He however, asked the government and other stakeholders to put more effort in sensitizing the local masses as this can benefit small businesses and farmers by enabling them to reach a broader customer base and engage in e-commerce activities.

Another community member, Mathews Umali said communities stand to benefit greatly from embracing digital financial transactions as it can reduce fraud and theft.

On his part, Traditional Authority Mizinga urged chiefs in the district to be in the forefront in ensuring that people embrace the initiative.

“Community leaders are crucial in embracing digital finance transactions because they can build trust and understanding among community members. Like what I am doing in my community, we are mandated to educate people about the benefits and safety of digital financial services,” said Mizinga.

Even students see that transacting using digital financial service platforms is convenient, safe and efficient compared to traditional cash payments, according to James Lysana, a student at Machinga Teachers Training College.

“We can easily pay for tuition, books and other expenses without carrying large amounts of cash. This reduces the risk of theft and allows for greater financial control. It also offers transparent transaction histories, making it easier to track expenses and manage budgets,” he said.

Digital Financial Services (DFS) Supervisor for Machinga, Andrew Chafwala said communities are patronizing the awareness campaign, which is a positive indication towards people’s willingness to embrace digital finance transactions.

The DFS awareness campaign is taking place on a pilot phase in Machinga and Chikwawa in the southern region, Lilongwe and Kasungu in the central region and Karonga and Chitipa in the northern region.