By Leah Malimbasa

Chikwawa, October 12, Mana: President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has reiterated his commitment to eradicate poverty and ensure food security in the country.

Speaking at Nsangwe Community Ground in Chikwawa on Wednesday after inspecting Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP), Chakwera said SVTP coupled with good roads, railway line and better bridges will succeed in transforming lives in the country.

Chakwera added that STVP will make Malawi self-reliant and food secure as the agriculture sector will significantly improve due to irrigation and modern farming methods.

“Malawi will not be the same, this may seem like something which is taking a lot of time but for something of this great magnitude and impact, you need time to lay a good foundation to build on,” he said.

Chakwera added that it is now time for Malawi to commit towars investing now to harvest more in future as handouts are not sustainable.

The project which started in 2018, has four main components namely; irrigation service and infrastructure improvement; land tenure and natural  resources management support; agriculture development and commercialization.

In recent years, Malawi’s predominantly rain-fed agriculture industry has been facing devastating droughts, floods and storms caused by climate change.

Nearly four in every 100 Malawian aged over 18 rely on agriculture, but many farmers lack technologies for irrigating and diversifying their crop production. 

According to SVTP Coordinator, Dr. Stanley Khaila, the project is expected to benefit farmers in Chikwawa and Nsanje as well as existing private farms including Illovo Sugar Company.

“Currently five cooperatives have already been registered and its members are being trained on how to commercialise farming and grow as farmers,” said Khaila.

Khaila added that the initiative will be able to irrigate 43,370 hectares and the irrigation which will start in 2024 will benefit a lot of families with women taking up 50.6 percent of the total number of beneficiaries.

One of the prospective beneficiaries of the programme, Martha Francisco said the project will enable participating families to transform economically.

“It will also empower women to be financially independent through the profits that we will be making from irrigation farming in our respective cooperatives,” said Francisco.

She added that the transformation programme will also reduce school dropouts as some learners in Chikwawa were dropping out due to unavailability of school fees.

The project which is expected to be completed by 2031, is funded by Malawi Government, the World Bank and the African Development Bank to the tune of $7.2 million (about K7.5 billion) $160 million (about K1.6 trillion) and $60 million (about K62 billion), respectively.

STVP accelerates national strides in the global race to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals to end hunger and poverty by 2030.

SDG2 promotes sustainable agriculture to end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition in the waning decade.

The goal is closely knitted with SDG3 on ensuring healthy lives and the well-being of everyone.

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