Use our pull-down menus to find more stories
  


OR subscribers use AllAfrica's premium search engine


Click here to read or make comments on this topic »

Malawi: UN Backs Scheme to Help Rural Poor Participate in Liberalized Market


UN News Service (New York)
 

Email This Page

Print This Page

Comment on this article

UN News Service (New York)

24 January 2008
Posted to the web 24 January 2008

Small-scale crop, livestock and fish producers and processors in Malawi will gain knowledge on benefiting from increased market competition under a new programme supported by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The nearly $20 million Rural Livelihoods and Economic Enhancement Programme will receive an $8.4 million loan and an $8.3 million grant for a three-year pilot period and then will be expanded to handle up to six commodities, the agency said in a news release.

Initially, the Programme will focus on groundnuts and Irish potatoes. To ease the transition from subsistence to small-scale commercial farming, participants will improve the yields and quality of their produce, learn better processing and marketing methods, and improve access to financial and technical support.

"Involving the private sector to drive agricultural commercialization is a new approach in Malawi," said Miriam Okongo, IFAD's country programme manager for the country, which is undergoing a period of economic liberalization.

"However, the rural population is not yet prepared for the realities of a market-led world," she added. "The aim of this programme is to help make them make production decisions based on market needs rather than taking the traditional production-oriented approach."



AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.

 
Share this on:
Facebook
Digg
Del.icio.us
StumbleUpon
Muti


Copyright © 2008 UN News Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed

Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe

Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement.

HOME
allAfrica.com


Relevant Links




Govt to Release N80 Billion Agricultural Fund
Johnson-Sirleaf Recommends Rice Production
Yar'Adua Okays Special Fund for Agriculture
Irony of Rich Farmers Without Cash
Six African Countries to Operationalise Agricultural Innovation Initiatives