Two Mchinji cooperatives receive grants

By Vincent Khonje

The Transforming Agriculture Through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) programme has taken a significant step towards strengthening agricultural value chains and promoting rural commercial development by awarding grants to two cooperatives in Mchinji.

NKhunguyembe Business Cooperative from Traditional Authority (TA) Mkanda and Machichi Producers and Marketing Cooperative from TA Simphasi were among the recipients of the grants.

TRADE Programme\’s Value Chain and Agri-business Specialist Linda Magombo,, emphasised the importance of addressing the financial barriers hindering the growth of agribusiness.

\”One of the problems hindering improved agribusiness is access to finance for farmer-based organisations. That is why in this design, it was seen that it was important that we finance farmers in the form of these grants. We are targeting to finance over 580 farmer-based organisations across the country, budgeted about $20 million,\” said Magombo.

The grants were presented during a ceremony where representatives from both cooperatives expressed their gratitude and outlined their plans on how they will utilise the funds.

Gladys Chimombo, vice chairperson of NKhunguwembe Business Cooperative, said as a cooperative they are happy to have received the grant as it will enable them to purchase a tractor, allowing them to cultivate more land and improve overall productivity.

Similarly, the Chairperson of Machichi Cooperative Sylvester Geresomo expressed their enthusiasm for the opportunity to add value to soy beans.

\”We want to be adding value to soy bean production by producing oil and soya pieces. This grant will play a crucial role in helping us acquire processing machinery,\” said Geresomo.

District Commissioner for Mchinji Lucia Chidalengwa praised the initiative, emphasising the positive impact of grants over loans.

\”A grant is a good thing than a loan. This will make them grow and improve productivity, and others will also learn from them,\” noted Chidalengwa.

TRADE programme aims to facilitate and manage the programme efficiently, establishing more efficient linkages between farmers and value chains.

With the recent grants, the programme anticipates witnessing primary processing activities in villages, fostering import substitution and bolstering the agricultural sector in the country.