By Tione Andsen

Lilongwe, August 4, Mana: Minister of Agriculture, Lobin Lowe has said the country continues to recover from numerous challenges including the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.

He said this Wednesday at Sunbird Hotel in Lilongwe during the launch of 2022 Malawi Agribusiness Deal Room.

Lowe said the country need reflect on the economy as we have realized how important the Ministry was to its economic recovery.

“With over 80 percent of our people employed in agriculture, we can no longer afford to play jokes with agribusiness development,” the Minister said.

He said the convergence of the meeting alone was a sign of government’s commitment to ensure that there was adequate engagement to address challenges facing agricultural development in the country.

Lowe said the launch of this Agribusiness Deal Room would allow us as key players in the agricultural sector in the country’s economy engage and strike partnerships to drive agricultural growth and in turn propel economic prosperity.

He added the government was committed to achieving food security and shared economic prosperity for the people as outlined in Malawi 2063.

The Minister said Agriculture commercialization and industrialization would be key in delivering the government’s wishes to the people.

He said the theme of the Agribusiness Deal Room was ‘Bold Actions for increasing investments to Malawi’s Agribusiness Development’ resonate well with the aspirations of my Ministry and the desire of the President

He said with support from partners such as AGRA, we have embarked on serious policy reforms all of which aim at creating a conducive environment for trade in the agriculture sector.

Board Chair for Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Hailemariam Dessalegn said the deal room supports enterprises and governments through a combination of in-country project preparation, pipeline development, project bankability, investment promotion, and discussions regarding the enabling environment for the African agribusiness sector.

He said the agribusiness deal Room facilitates substantive transaction-centered dialogue and connections amongst key stakeholders including enterprises, farmers, governments, investors, financial institutions, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and development partners. 

Dessalegn said the initiative would provide an opportunity for Malawi to showcase both public and private sector opportunities to investors, financial institutions, development partners and other stakeholders looking for partnerships.

“It will be an opportunity to deepen the engagement with these actors and mobilize increased investment and partnerships to the country. This convening will kick-off country preparations for investor preparation and engagement at the year-round deal room,” he added.

Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) is one of the world’s ⁶premier forums for African agriculture that brings together stakeholders in the agricultural landscape to take practical actions and share lessons that will move African agriculture forward.

The AGRF is championed by a Partners Group that is made up of a coalition of leading actors in African agriculture all focused on putting farmers at the centre of the continent’s growing economies.

This year AGRF is back taking place from September 6-9, 2022 and will hosted by Rwanda in Kigali.

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