“As government, we are committed to completing this life-changing initiative. We will ensure that there are always resources available, including capacity development of our farmers for realising this vision,” said Honorable Sam Kawale, Minister of Agriculture during the engagement meeting with some farmer representatives in Chikwawa.
He said, “It is fulfilling to see that all processes to secure tenure of land for the farmers has been followed. This will provide an opportunity for farming households to benefit for generations.”
Reacting to the comments from the Minister, Vice Chairperson of Mulambe Cooperative Anorld Chiutsi underscored the importance of the scheme to economic empowerment and food security in the Shire Valley and across the country.
“Our anticipation from this project is so great. We are thankful to the government for investing in building our capacity to prepare ourselves for the transformative venture ahead of us,” he said.
The engagement meeting allowed the Minister to appreciate the farmers’ preparedness to undertake commercial farming. The Ministry of Trade and Industry Department of Cooperatives has been instrumental in establishing cooperatives under the project. So far, nine out of 13 cooperatives have been registered with the Registrar of Cooperatives. The government engaged the services of four service providers to build the capacity of the cooperatives in business plan development, soil surveys, enterprise selection and offtake and market identification, among other things.
Responding to the presentation made by the cooperative, Honorable Kawale reiterated the government’s commitment towards fulfilling the transformative project and expressed gratitude to the project for championing the land adjudication and demarcation process, which will assist in securing land tenure for farmers in readiness for consolidation into large commercial farmers.
Prior to the meeting, Honorable Kawale visited the SVTP construction site to appreciate the progress made in the construction of the irrigation scheme.
