NGO hands over K34m warehouse to farmers’ cooperative

Takondwa Mangeni 29th Nov,2023

Kasungu, 29th November: Country Director for Oxfam, Lingalireni Mihowa says modern and secure warehouses can help to reduce post-harvest losses of produce for farmers’ cooperatives which studies have shown hovers around 40 percent.

Mihowa said this on Tuesday during the handover ceremony of a warehouse by their partner, Circle for Integrated Community Development Organisation (CICOD), to Kapirinkhunda Farmers’ Cooperative in Chiseka Village, Traditional Authority Mphomwa in Kasungu.

She said warehouses allow farmers to keep their produce safely and sell them when prices are in right ranges hence prevent making losses.

Mihowa said: “Warehouses with good capacity allow farmers to have proper storage, thereby giving them enough time to advertise their produce and link with legitimate customers who buy at recommended prices.”

Chairperson for Kapirinkhunda Farmers’ Cooperative, Alice Banda, said the warehouse will help the farmers to save money which they spend on rented buildings.

“We cultivated 10 hectares of groundnuts besides other crops. So this warehouse has come at the right time as we will no longer have challenges in storing the produce. We also expect to cut down on storage expenses. This guarantees that we will achieve our target of making at least K22 million in profits.”said Banda.

Director of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources for Kasungu, Evelyn Chima said the warehouse will give the cooperative a chance of benefiting from the government’s newly introduced project of Agriculture Commercialisation (Agcom) which aims to promote commercial farming.

Chief executive officer for CICOD, Amos Tizora assured the farmers of continuous support so that they have access to better markets for their produce.

Reported by Abubakar Kanjoka

copied from the Malawi News Agency's Facebook page