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Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme is mainstreaming the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) as a community-led empowerment methodology that uses principles of inclusion to improve income, food and nutrition security of vulnerable people in a gender-equitable way. The method is addressing the power relationships at the root of inequality to meet gender equity and women’s empowerment among smallholder farmers under TRADE Programme. Watch the video below that showcase some of the successes achieved through the household approach under GALS.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) East and Southern Africa Regional Director Sara Mbago-Bhunu was in Malawi from 2nd - 5th October, 2023 to launch the IFAD Malawi country office. During the period, Ms. Sara Mbago-Bhunu visited some TRADE programme sites to appreciate how the programme is contributing to improved sustainable livelihood of rural people in Malawi.
On Tuesday (3rd October,2023),The Deputy Minister for Local Government, Unity and Culture, Hon. Owen Chomanika MP. and the IFAD Regional Director, visited the newly constructed Matope Bridge and Mpemba Milk Bulking Centre in Ntonda EPA, Blantyre, where lives of 780 women under Mpemba Milk Bulking Group is being transformed through Transforming Agriculture Through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme. Currently Mpemba Milk Bulking Group produces about 58 000 litres of milk a month. Below are some pictures showcasing IFAD Regional Director and Deputy Minister for Local Government, Unity and Culture during the field visit.
In fulfilling its mandate of contributing to improved sustainable livelihoods of rural people in Malawi through “Value Chain commercialisation and resilience of rural poor and smallholder producers”, the Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme participated in the 2023 Malawi Agricultural Productivity and Commercialization Conference (MAPCC) which was held from 30th to 31st August 2023. The conference was organised under the theme "Diversified agricultural value chains for improved trade balances and foreign currency reserves and the event was graced by Minister of Industry and Trade, Hon. Simplex Chithyola, who was the guest of honor. The conference brought together developing partners, farmers, aggregators, input suppliers, financiers, NGOs, and the government. In his speech, Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Simplex Chithyola emphasised that if Malawi is to balance trade or increase foreign currency reserves, then the country cannot leave behind agriculture.
The 2023 MAPCC’s theme was inline to what TRADE is doing, as the programme is supporting rural entrepreneurs, focusing on youths and women to develop and sustain their agribusiness enterprise opportunities and ensuring that commodities are nutrition sensitive. TRADE is expected to achieve the objective through targeted support to smallholder farmers and non-farm actors to benefit from commodity markets, improved access to rural financial services, market and business development services and partnerships with the private sector through the Producer Public Private Partnership (4Ps). Please take a look at the conference in pictures.
Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme participated in the 2023 National Agriculture Fair (NAF) that was organized under the theme: Achieving Self-Reliance through Agricultural Commercialization. TRADE Programme's participation at the fair provided a rare opportunity to the farmers to interact with various stakeholders in Malawi's Agri-Food Systems to establish strategic business partnerships that can be conjointly beneficial. Malawi Minister of Agriculture Hon Sam Dalitso Kawale MP. had to visit TRADE Programmes’ pavilion at this year's 19th National Agriculture Fair. During the event TRADE programme showcased various agricultural technologies and innovations that the programme is supporting to enhance value chain commercialisation in Malawi. Please take a look at the fair in pictures.
TRADE Programme Convenes The Honey Stakeholders Meeting
TRADE Programme in coordination with the Malawi Bee Products Association organised a Honey Stakeholders Meeting which was held physically at Cross Roads Hotel in Lilongwe on 2nd June 2023. The meeting brought together beekeepers,aggregators, input suppliers, financiers, NGOs, developing partners and the government. The meeting aimed at improving the quality and quantity of honey production by ensuring that beekeepers have access to adequate inputs, training and extension services; strengthening market access and competitiveness by linking producers to processors and off-takers who can add value and meet the standards and preferences of domestic and export markets; and promoting social and environmental sustainability by encouraging good beekeeping practices, natural resource management and inclusive participation of women and youth. The Bee Products Association of Malawi was set up to facilitate marketing and to enable beekeepers to negotiate better prices for their Honey. Currently TRADE Programme is promoting seven value chains including Honey. TRADE observed a need to empower beekeepers through the provision of grants to enable them procure equipment that will assist them to make bee-keeping an attractive occupation.
As part of providing technical backstopping services to the Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme, TRADE Technical Committee visited some of the Programmes’ Sites to track how the infrastructure projects are progressing. The Technical Committee believes that successful implementation of infrastructure projects will constitute an important milestone in TRADE's contribution to the improved sustainable livelihood of rural people in Malawi. Effective coordination judiciously matched with regular monitoring is thus an important element in ensuring a successful completion of the projects with improved efficiency at a recommended speed and achieving the intended quality. TRADE Programme has embarked on construction and rehabilitation of roads, bridges, buildings to support commodities and livestock water points that will assist in reducing infrastructure bottlenecks of identified 7 value chains. Currently TRADE Programme has 20 infrastructure sites in Kasungu, Ntchisi, Mchinji, Lilongwe, Dedza, Blantyre and Thyolo. Below are some pictures showing TRADE Technical Team supervising the infrastructure projects.
TRADE Programme Commences Construction Works
The development of rural infrastructure plays an essential role in improving rural livelihoods and enhancing sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural production. It is inline to the above statement that TRADE programme is creating an enabling environment for smallholder commercialisation through the infrastructure development initiative. The initiative will assist in reducing infrastructure bottlenecks of identified commodities through the development of: road infrastructure (rehabilitation including drainage, construction of structures and set up of Road Management Clubs); buildings to support commodities (warehouses, Milk Bulking Centres – MBCs –, Livestock/cattle markets and honey storage centres); and livestock water points (homestead/community & livestock drinking points).
TRADE Programme Participates in The National Agriculture Content Development Workshop
TRADE and FARMSE Programmes Met in an Experience-Sharing Workshop
TRADE Programme is at the 18th National Agriculture Fair
Transforming Agriculture Through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme together with its various partners are at the 18th National Agriculture Fair, Chichiri Trade Fair Ground in Blantyre showcasing its various interventions in different agricultural value chains in the quest to contribute to improved sustainable livelihoods of rural people. Below are some pictures of pavilions that have been mounted to display various products produced by Smallholder farmers who are directly involved in various TRADE programmes' interventions.
TRADE Programme’s NPC meets OPEC Fund DG
District Desk Officers for TRADE Programme Oriented
As part of ensuring coordination of efforts among all focal players, TRADE programme requested each target District Council to provide a Desk Officer to its Programme Management Unit (PMU). TRADE programme is aiming at achieving effective implementation of its interventions that requires a clear definition of operational framework. To this end, the PMU organised a One-Day orientation that aimed at orienting the Desk Officers to understand their roles and responsibilities. The meeting was held on 28th April, 2022 at Linde Motel in Mponera, Dowa.
At District level, Desk Officers will serve as TRADE Programme's focal points and will work in collaboration with the District Planning and Implementation Support Teams (DPIST). The Desk officers will among others enhance adequate mobilization and publicity of TRADE programme interventions, as well as monitoring the implementation of all activities at district level.
Kombeza Foods Visited by IFAD Supervision Team and TRADE Programme Management Unit
On Friday (8th July, 2022) TRADE Programme Management Unit together with the IFAD Supervision Team visited Kombeza Foods in Blantyre, a dairy processing company in Malawi. The team interacted with Mdingase Tewete, the Managing Director of Kombeza Foods, as part of strengthening linkages between smallholder farmers and dairy commodity actors for productivity enhancement and commercialization. Mdingase Tewete stressed that very few dairy smallholder producers in Malawi are producing quality milk and she is happy that one of TRADE programmes’ key outcomes is to increase smallholder producers’ productivity and product quality. Mdingase emphasised that sometimes the quality of the milk supplied to Kombeza Foods affects their production, to the extent of discarding a lot of product that do not come out accurately.
TRADE Programme is aiming at building capacity for the commercially focused dairy smallholder farmers. The Programme will work closely with specialised service providers with experience in the livestock sector in Malawi. The livestock training among others will cover the following key topics: Feeding and fodder production & preparation including supplementary feeding techniques; Climate resilient housing; Reproduction & health; Keeping, milking and young stock raising; Farm management and controlling; and Hygiene & quality of milk and farm economics.
Private Sector Anxious for ACIF
NyamaWorld also got fund from RLEEP and has been involved in beef cattle geneticsupgrade since 2015 and have reached a total number of 11/000 smallholder farmers. Nyama World have welcomed ACIF as an initiative that will help them continue supporting smallholder livestock farmers to adopt the improved livestock breeding technologies. The other prospective private sector player is Mach Milk Company Limited, which hasinvested in milk powder production and has rolled out its operations in Mpemba, Blantyre. Mach Milk Company have welcomed ACIF as an initiative that will make the firm achieve its goal of boosting the welfare of local dairy farmers through the creation of readily available market of these rural dairy farmers from Thyolo, Blantyre and Chiradzulu Districts.
TRADE Programme Hosts IFAD Supervision Mission
Knowledge Management and Communications
Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme is hosting an IFAD Mission Team which is in the country to provide support to the Programme Management Unit(PMU), to ensure that the key programme objectives are being met. The team landed in the country on 3rd July,2022 and interacted with the PMU on Monday (4th July, 2022) and further visited the District Planning Implementation Support Team (DPIST) for Mchinji District Council on 5th July,2022. While in Mchinji the Mission interacted with two existing Farmer Based organisations (FBOs) that were established by the Rural Livelihood Economic Enhancement Programme (RLEEP), (Mkhunguyembe Cooperative and Kakuyu Farmer Business Schools) in Mkanda EPA to appreciate how these FBOs are progressing.
The Mission will proceed to Blantyre and Thyolo Districts to appreciate how Milk Bulking Centers established by RLEEP are operating. TRADE programme is a successor programme of RLEEP and is expected to upscale RLEEP interventions for the first two and half years of its six years’ implementation period in eleven districts (Mchinji, Ntchisi, Dedza, Blantyre, Kasungu, Nkata-Bay, Rumphi, Karonga, Lilongwe Rural, Thyolo and Chitipa) focusing on 7 commodities (groundnuts, soybean, sunflower, Irish potato, dairy, beef and honey). The programme is to contribute to improved sustainable livelihoods of rural people in Malawi through “Value Chain commercialisation and resilience of rural poor and smallholder producers”.
IFAD Supervision Mission Visits Milk Bulking Groups in Blantyre and Thyolo
Knowledge Management and Communications
TRADE Programme Management Unit together with the IFAD Supervision Mission were in Blantyre and Thyolo Districts today, (7th July, 2022) to appreciate how Milk Bulking Centers established by RLEEP are operating. The first Milk Bulking Group (MBG) to be visited was Mpemba MBG in Ntonda EPA in Blantyre, where farmers demonstrated how they test milk to find out, if it is sour or has been mixed with sodium bicarbonate. Whilst in Mpemba, the PMU and the IFAD Support Team visited MACH Milk Powder manufacturer to understand the commercial partnership which is there between smallholder milk producers and MACH Powder manufacturer as an off taker.
In the Afternoon, the team visited Mpeni Milk Bulking Group in Dwale EPA in Thyolo to plan how best Mpeni MBG can be revamped. RLEEP constructed a Milk Bulking Facility which has been nonfunctional since 2015, due to lack of electricity and other cooling equipment. TRADE Programme being a successor of RLEEP programme will rehabilitate the storage facility and ensure that smallholder farmers from Mpeni Milk Bulking Group start using the facility accordingly.
TRADE Programme Steering Committee (PSC) Meet
TRADE Programme Steering Committee (PSC) first meeting took place on, Wednesday 20th April, 2022 at Sunbird Hotel in Salima. TRADE Programme’s overall governance is under the oversight of Programme Steering Committee which is headed by the Principal Secretary for Local Government, which happens to be the lead agency for the Programme. The membership of the PSC is drawn from different programme’s partners that includes officials from different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Non-Governmental Organisations, Private Sector and other Value Chains players.
Grant Review Committee Inducted
Knowledge Management and Communications
Transforming Agriculture through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme on 28th June,2022 conducted a meeting where the Grant Review Committee (GRC) was oriented the on its Terms of References (ToRs). This is a committee with qualified members, selected based on the merit basis of their expertise in agribusiness, business economics, business management, financial management, entrepreneurship, and two PMU staff (TRADE Value Chain Specialist and ACIF Grant Manager) to review TRADE Grant applications & claims and recommend for their approval. TRADE Programme will use the Grants Review Committee (GRC) to promote transparency, objectivity and independence in the review.
Programme Sites
Chitipa
Karonga
Rumphi
Nkhatabay
Ntchisi
Kasungu
Lilongwe Rural
Mchinji
Dedza
Thyolo
Blantyre Rural
Contact Us
TRADE Programme
Area 9/328 Off Mchinji Road
P.O. Box 2135,
Lilongwe. Malawi
Email: npc@tradeprogramme.org Website: www.tradeprogramme.org
Target Commodities
Beef
Dairy
Honey
Groundnut
Sunflower
Soybean
Irish potato
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