Government Economist Urges Farmers to Capitalise on Macadamia Nuts Project
The Chief Economist in the Ministry of Local Planning and Development Flemings Nyirenda says smallholder farmers working with DAPP Malawi in a Macadamia Nuts Value Chain Enhancement project in Mzimba district should capitalize on the project’s initiatives in order to enhance their farm production.
Nyirenda was speaking in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mzikubola, Mzimba district where he attended a field visit along with the DAPP National Partnership Assistant Manager, the project coordinator and the Farming Instructors, among others.
In the area, the team visited two farmers Felix Moyo and Angel Banda who have planted 100 Macadamia trees each. Moyo and Banda briefed the visitors on ways of caring for the trees and how they look forward to when they will start benefitting from the trees.
Implemented in Thyolo and Mzimba districts, the project runs from 2016 to 2021 with financial assistance from Sympany of Holland. The aim is to organize small scale farmers in clubs in order to link them to the value chain so as to produce quality Macadamia nuts that meet international standards.
Other initiatives in the project include introduction of Village Savings and Loan groups through which the farmers are able to save and borrow money thereby starting up small scale businesses. In addition, the farmers have been trained in environmental conservation through the use of firewood saving stoves that requires less fuel for cooking.
The project also promotes sanitation and hygiene through construction of hand washing facilities such as tippy-taps which are suspended outside toilets to encourage handwashing after visiting the toilet.
