At least 14,000 farmers from Golomoti in the area of Traditional Authority Kachindamoto in Dedza can now afford a smile after receiving 144 Metric Tones of CG 7 Groundnut Seeds from the Catholic Development Commission of Malawi (CADECOM).
Speaking at a function held at Golomoti Extension Planning Area (EPA),CADECOM’s Diocesan Secretary for Dedza, Patrick Namakhoma said the aim behind distributing the revolving fund groundnut seeds is to increase the productivity of farmers in Dedza hence improve their living standards after realizing profits from sales made from the harvested groundnuts.
“This project targets about 30,000 households in Dedza and our aim is to encourage farmers to regard farming as a business. We are today distributing 10 Kilograms of Groundnut seeds to each farmer and we expect them to repay what we have given them so that their fellow farmers should also benefit come next growing season,” said Namakhoma.
He said the project will work hand in hand with other stakeholder like the Agriculture Commodity Exchange to identify markets or buy the produce from farmers as one way of empowering the farmers to be economically independent.
According to Namakhoma, apart from engaging other stake holders to identify markets or buy the produce from farmers, CADECOM has also equipped farmers with skills on how they can win a market.
“We are not only encouraging subsistence farming rather we want our farmers to start practicing commercial farming so that they can take proper care of their families.This is the reason why we encouraged these farmers to form market associations for them to be able to identify markets, “he said
For his part, the Director of Planning and Development for Dedza District Council, Smart Gwedemule, commended CADECOM for reaching out to the rural farmers with the Groundnut seed.
He however, challenged other organizations in the district to emulate from what CADECOM is doing.
“There are many Non-Governmental Organizations in this district but many of them are not visibly seen with their work just like what CADECOM is doing. They only get money from the donors but failing to reach out with those resources to the intended beneficiaries so lets emulate from what CADECOM is doing,” said Gwedemule
Meanwhile, farmers who have benefited from the project have been challenged to sale the Groundnut seed they have received from CADECOM rather they should make use of it so that it should also benefit other farmers in the next growing season.
During the function, CADECOM has also distributed bicycles to 50 Lead farmers in a bid to ease their mobility when going round, equipping fellow farmers with knowledge on proper farming methods.
CADECOM is implementing a three year Dedza Groundnut Valued Chain Development and Nutrition project with funding amounting to $623,000 from USAID through Feed the Future Inc.
Apart from Golomoti EPA farmers, CADECOM will also reach out to farmers from Mtakataka,Chafumbwa,Kanyama and Bembeke EPA’s
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