By Mercy Matonga:
As climate change threatens food systems, Malawi can resolve food security challenges by diversifying consumption beyond overdependence on the staple crop, maize, experts have said.
This was said in Lilongwe during a panel discussion organised by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and Mwapata Institute, focusing on agricultural growth and diversification.
Regional Director for Leadership for Environment and Development in Southern and Eastern Africa Sosten Chiotha said diversifying agricultural production will greatly improve food availability in the country.
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Chiotha, a leading climate change expert, said for Malawi to attain the food security mark, all agricultural mechanisms and plans should be executed accordingly.
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“Our population has increased tremendously. We cannot continue the way our parents did. We need to change the way we think, the way we eat and we need to put in place mechanisms that will improve our farming production so that our lives should improve. This can be achieved if we work together in our communities,” Chiotha said.
Chiotha added that all players including farmers, researchers and forest department officials should collaborate to make the best decisions to improve farming.
“There are people who have called for the programme to be cancelled. But I think it is still useful and can contribute to the growth of the agricultural sector if stakeholders implemented the right reforms,” Chiotha said.
Mwapata Institute Executive Director William Chadza said there is also a need to prioritise research as it helps to generate evidence.
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“We believe that evidence is important towards policy making and is also important to support policy implementation. After sometime, people should be able to sit back and reflect on how best they can improve the situations,”Chadza said.
NPC Director General Thomas Munthali said the commission is hopeful that the 2063 target will be met if what is being put in place now is followed by action.
“There are a number of reasons why we are in this situation, one of which is the way we prioritise our resources. We need to look at how we distribute those resources. If we consider inputs for farmers such as fertilizer and seeds, we also need to include other agriculture support services such as research and capacity,” Munthali said.
