{"id":35842,"date":"2022-11-30T03:14:42","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T03:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers"},"modified":"2022-11-30T04:03:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T04:03:32","slug":"ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers","title":{"rendered":"Ready markets stir groundnut farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. <\/strong><\/span>Noella Kalonga, a farmer in Mitundu, Lilongwe, was among several others who were struggling to find markets for their groundnuts. She belongs to Nakungubwi Cooperative in Mdindo Village, Traditional Authority Chiseka, in whose jurisdiction Mitundu lies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could grow groundnuts in abundance but failed to find reliable markets after harvesting the crop. We were forced to sell our groundnuts to vendors who offered very low prices,\u201d Kalonga says.<\/p>\n

In Malawi, groundnut is among the most important legume crops predominantly grown by smallholder farmers who take up 93 percent of total production. The crop also holds significant economic importance with approximately 40 percent total production marketed.<\/p>\n

Malawi was once recorded as one of the major groundnuts-producing countries in the world with annual exports of about 50,000 metric tonnes [mt] until the 1980s.<\/p>\n

Agriculture economics experts state that the crop\u2019s value chain has the potential to serve as a leading source of income from both domestic and export trade. But despite its importance, groundnut\u2019s value chain continues to meet a number of challenges that hinder its progress.<\/p>\n

Among the challenges are inadequate access to quality seed by farmers, poor agricultural production practices, poor storage and poor technical response to aflatoxins.<\/p>\n

Lack of a well organised marketing system that would link smallholder farmers while also helping them to yield produce that could compete at the international market is also there.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, there is a ready market and we are determined to produce enough yield because we know where to take it even before we till our land,\u201d Kalonga says.<\/p>\n

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), with funding from the United Nations Development Programme, is implementing a project dubbed \u2018Sustainable Agriculture Production and Marketing for Rural Transformation\u2019 aimed at building the resilience of the groundnut value chain.<\/p>\n

The initiative is working with 20,000 farmers\u201412,000 women and 8,000 men\u2014by giving them access to agriculture extension services and modern practices. The farmers, one of whom is Kalonga, are from Lilongwe, Kasungu, Mchinji, Mzimba, Dedza and Rumphi districts.<\/p>\n

Agra is implementing the project in collaboration with the African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnership (Afap), off-takers Milele Agro- Processing and Fortune Gardens and Agro-Input Suppliers Limited.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think of the market first before production, in terms of the variety and quantities demanded on the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do we buy groundnuts from the farmers, we also provide extension services, through private extension workers, from value chain selection through production to harvesting,\u201d Milele Agro-Processing Malawi Managing Director, Gloria Phekani, explains.<\/p>\n

Phekani adds that the company does all this to enhance the quality of groundnuts so that they are fit for export. \u201cWe also focus on aflatoxin management, being the major challenge with groundnuts in Malawi hindering export markets,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Nakungubwi is among cooperatives working with Milele. From their last harvest, the group sold 50mt to the agro-processing firm which works hand in hand with a groundnut processing factory in South Africa, which has a capacity of 26,000mt.<\/p>\n

Milele is reaching out to over 10,000 farmers in Malawi by providing them with competitive market prices in groundnut value chain and has over 37,000 farmers when other value chains are brought into the equation.<\/p>\n

Mary Chikumbe, 45, who started growing groundnuts in 2016, used to plant in a single row but changed to two rows per ridge after receiving advice from Milele through local extension workers called community agribusiness advisers.<\/p>\n

The new method increased her groundnuts yield from eight 50-kilogramme (kg) bags in 2019-20 to 25 50kg bags in the 2021-22 season, on the same piece of land.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sold my groundnuts to Milele at K1,000 per kg and I managed to renovate my house which was in a poor condition. I also paid school fees for my child who is now in form four.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dream is to buy more land on which to build another house which I can rent out and be generating more income from it,\u201d Chikumbe says.<\/p>\n

Agra Malawi Country Manager Sophie Chitedze says the availability of firms like Milele Agro- Processing Malawi Limited is a great opportunity for farmers in Malawi.<\/p>\n

Chitedze encourages the farmers to remain in cooperatives \u201cbecause they have more bargaining power for prices when they sell their farm produce as a group\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur new strategy for 2023-30 will focus on creating markets and increasing access to finance for farmers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are impressed with the uptake of improved technologies, but we have also noted that there is a need for structured markets. Agra will work with stakeholders to address the challenges,\u201d Chitedze says.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Malawi<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Malawi. Noella Kalonga, a farmer in Mitundu, Lilongwe, was among several others who were struggling to find markets for their groundnuts. She belongs to Nakungubwi Cooperative in Mdindo Village, Traditional Authority Chiseka, in whose jurisdiction Mitundu lies. \u201cWe could grow groundnuts in abundance but failed to find reliable markets after harvesting the crop. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,410],"tags":[5502,233,371,5504,234,5503],"class_list":["post-35842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","category-to-homepage","tag-afap","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-malawi","tag-groundnut-farmers","tag-malawi","tag-milele-agro-processing-malawi-limited"],"yoast_head":"\nReady markets stir groundnut farmers - Malawi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Noella Kalonga, a farmer in Mitundu, Lilongwe, was among several others who were struggling to find markets for their gr ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ready markets stir groundnut farmers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Noella Kalonga, a farmer in Mitundu, Lilongwe, was among several others who were struggling to find markets for their gr ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Malawi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-30T03:14:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-30T04:03:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_1669765507.52.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1338\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ready markets stir groundnut farmers\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-30T03:14:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-30T04:03:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers\"},\"wordCount\":765,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/malawi\/sites\/36\/2022\/11\/postQueueImg_1669765507.52.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Afap\",\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Malawi\",\"Groundnut farmers\",\"Malawi\",\"Milele Agro- Processing Malawi Limited\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/malawi\/all-news\/ready-markets-stir-groundnut-farmers\",\"name\":\"Ready markets stir groundnut farmers - 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