Farmers encouraged to form cooperatives
Wezzie Gausi:
Smallholder farmers in the country have been encouraged to work in groups through cooperatives to reap the most of their effort.
President for Cheka Cooperative in Ntchisi, Jeremiah Banda, said smallholder farmers should learn to work in groups for easy coordination.
Cheka Cooperative was formed in 2008 and has transformed agriculture production.
“Most farmers in our area have benefitted from the cooperative. During last growing season, we managed to raise K58 million from groundnuts,” Banda said.
He said, if farmers work, in groups, they would be able to get loans and find reliable markets.
World Vision Development Facilitator, Steve Macheso, said the organisation was delighted to see farmers working together.
Macheso, said through their involvement in Cheka Cooperative, they had witnessed how lives of small holder farmers had been transformed.
“We are very pleased that we have success stories coming out of the initiatives farmers are doing. Gone are the days when farmers could sell their farm produce to vendors.
“ Working in cooperatives has seen many farmers building modern houses, buying cars and motor cycles and, above all, they are able to sell their crops at higher prices as they are able to negotiate,” Macheso said.
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