About 200 farmer groups in the country are expected to benefit from World Bank grants under the Malawi Watershed Improvement Project (MWASIP) aimed at improving productivity, market access and profitability.
MWASIP Technical Director, Joseph Kanyangalazi said during a media orientation on Thursday in Blantyre that the grants will be in two categories where apart from the 200 farmers’ grants, 60 agri-enterprises will also get grants to improve quality and value addition.
“The two categories are matching grants for smallholder farmers targeting 200 farmer groups with grants between US$ 5000 and US$ 25, 000. Again, 60 agri-enterprises will get grants between US$ 25, 000 and US$ 50, 000,” said Kanyangalazi.
Kanyangalazi said market linkages will be built through supply contracts between producers and buyers to ensure maximum utilization of the grants so that it serves its purpose.
On a different note, the director observed that the success of the project required much publicity, he therefore, urged the media to report more on project.
One of the participants, Malawi Institute of Journalism (MIJ) FM’s Benadetta Chiwanda Mia described the project as worthwhile considering that it aims at uplifting the lives of the grassroots who are mostly vulnerable.
“This is a very good project, especially because of the business component. We will make sure that the project is visible through writing success stories so that the farmers and the agri-enterprises know how they can go about it and learn from each other,” said Mia.
Currently, targeting five districts of Blantyre, Neno, Zomba, Machinga and Ntcheu districts, MWASIP’s main objective is to increase the adoption of sustainable landscape management practices to improve watershed services using integrated catchment approaches.
The US$ 160 million (K163 billion) worth project which could extend to Balaka, Mangochi and some parts of Machinga, intends to restore 95, 000 hectares of degraded land as well as register 20, 000 hectares of land and offer land tenure security to 16, 000 farmers.
