By Vincent Nhlema

The Royal Norwegian Ambassador to Malawi, H.E. Steinar Egil Hagen, on Thursday, toured some livelihood improvement interventions and value addition initiatives happening in Mulanje and Phalombe districts under the National Smallholder Farmers’ Association of Malawi (NASFAM).

During the tour, the Ambassador interacted with some smallholder farmers, learning how their lives have improved with support from the Norwegian Government, through NASFAM.

Ndaipa Mvuva, a smallholder farmer from Phalombe district shared with the ambassador how he has benefited through his association with NASFAM. He said the profits from Chilli and Soya crop he produces enables him meet both food and financial requirements for his family of 3 throughout the year. He added he bought livestock using the profits realised from his crop sales, which have become handy for his family’s food, nutrition and economic security. At the moment he boasts of 7 goats, 3 pigs, over 80 pigeons, and 8 chickens after selling and consuming some.

Hagen expressed satisfaction with how support from his government is helping improve the lives of smallholder farmers in Malawi. Hagen reminded farmers that he was part of the team that visited Phalombe and Mulanje districts in 1999 (before he became an ambassador) to establish areas of support before his government committed to supporting NASFAM.

With regard to value addition, Hagen was pleased to learn that the smallholder farmers in the two districts own two factories where they process refined sunflower cooking oil and certified chilli sauce. The Zikometso Chilli sauce is now sold in all major supermarkets and other retail shops in the Malawi, while the cooking oil is still undergoing certification processes.

“What I have seen today shows that Malawi can afford to produce quality products. The cooking oil you are producing here is mostly produced in Ukraine, and with the war it has become scarce and expensive. This oil is of good quality and can be used by anyone. Congratulations,” said Hagen.

The Ambassador emphasized that the Norwegian Government is committed to supporting agriculture in Malawi because “agriculture is the past, the present and the future of Malawi.”

“Our support to NASFAM dates back to 1999 because we know that agriculture has potential to improve livelihoods in Malawi,” he added.

NASFAM Chief Executive Officer, Dr Betty Chinyamunyamu, said her organisation is thankful to the Norwegian Government because the support they provide is not tied to specific projects but allows NASFAM to strategically utilise resources for sustainable smallholder farmer livelihood improvement.

Chinyamunyamu said NASFAM’s interventions in the two districts have multiple benefits.

“NASFAM benefits farmers in two ways. We first help them increase their yields by giving them access to modern farming practices and high yielding seed. And after production, we also help them with markets, and that is very important because lack of access to good markets is one of the challenges that most smallholders in this country face. There are a lot of projects and initiatives aimed at increasing production but after that most farmers struggle to find markets,” said Chinyanmunyamu.