Africa-Press – Malawi. Education, Science and Technology Minister Bright Msaka has commended the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences (Mubas) for its groundbreaking initiative in manufacturing hand-held agriculture mechanisation machinery.
The machinery is useful for crop harvesting, shelling and planting, among other tasks.
The minister made the commendation in Blantyre yesterday, when he presided over the launch of Mubas’ Agriculture Mechanisation Unit.
Msaka said the unit demonstrated the university’s proactive response to Malawi’s critical need for improved crop production, encouraging other institutions of higher learning to scale up their investments from theoretical knowledge impartation to the actual production of useful products in Malawi.
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“For many years, Malawians have criticised our universities for only being centres of theory, but the hand-held tractors made by a Malawian University can prove those critics wrong,” Msaka said.
He further said the government was ready to support Mubas in securing a sustainable market for the machinery, thereby promoting both innovation and skills development.
On her part, Mubas Vice Chancellor Nancy Chitera said the university’s decision to invest in agriculture mechanisation was a direct contribution to Malawi’s national development vision, namely the Malawi 2063.
She said the move was spurred by growing concerns regarding the potential of higher learning institutions to materialise knowledge, innovations and technological skills into solutions for national agricultural challenges.
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“We were looking at the Malawi 2063 vision and we identified the need in the agriculture sector. At the same time, there was an outcry regarding the contribution of our engineers and experts in addressing production gaps in the agriculture sector,” Chitera said.
William MpinganjiraThe newly launched unit is capable of producing hand-held tractors which are useful for planting, shelling and harvesting crops.
Mubas Board Chairperson William Mpinganjira said the unit would create youth employment, provide practical experience to students and assist farmers in adopting modern farming practices.
Mpinganjira also announced plans to establish another Agriculture Mechanization Unit at Mubas’ Nanjiri campus in Lilongwe, aiming for nationwide accessibility of their machinery.
“Universities in Malawi have, for a long time, relied on subsidies from the government. So, this product will also help us to be well commercialised and self reliant while offering solutions to the agriculture sector,” Mpinganjira said.
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