| Access to stable, structured and profitable markets for most agricultural commodities has been a major challenge that farmers have been facing in Malawi. Few market opportunities that exist are usually grasped by vendors, middle men and aggregators, while leaving out deserving farmers. Unfortunately this has trapped the country’s agriculture sector in subsistence orientation as farmers are less incentivized to invest and intensify their production systems. It is for this reason that FUM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) to help farmers to access ADMARC markets, through their cooperatives. Through the MoU, FUM will be mobilizing farmers to aggregate their produce and delivering it to ADMARC markets, while ADMARC will commit to buy farm produce from the farmers. The agreement is timely especially considering that the country expects surplus maize production of about 2million metric tons that will be available for export market. Apart from enhancing farmers’ access to structured markets, the agreement will also promote cooperative development in Malawi as farmers will be required to sell their produce through their cooperatives. |