Maravi

Farmers’ body bemoans lack of agribusiness information

Farmers’ body bemoans lack of agribusiness information
Written by Christopher Miti in Chipata
Friday, September 11, 2009 4:39:44 PM

CHIPATA District Farmers Association (CDFA) coordinator Virgil Malambo has said most of the farmers in Eastern Province have been swindled because of lack of agricultural market information.

During the introductory seminar of the Eastern Province agri-business information project on Wednesday, Malambo said the project was expected to narrow the information gap among the farmers in the province.

"This is a business-oriented project so those of the farmers who just grow or produce for the sake of home consumption. This is not theirs but those that produce for the purpose of making a livelihood out of farming. This is a project that would definitely help them with information, which information will help them to make informed decisions and choices, we know very well that in the recent past, there had been cries all over, especially by the farming community, some of whom have been swindled due to lack of information, some of whom have been exploited out of their hard-earned income due to lack of information," Malambo said.

He said the project would help improve information, dialogue and opportunities among the key stakeholders in the farming community.

Malambo said there would be three public dialogues within the project that would be held to improve understanding between farmers' agri-businesses and the government.

He said the project was funded by the European Union-capacity building for private sector development.

Malambo said the European Union had funded 80 per cent of the project that would cost about K314 million while the other funds would come from the CDFA.

Labels: AGRICULTURE, CHIPATA, DFAs, VIRGIL MALAMBO

posted by MrK @ 3:43 PM