The President together with the Board of Directors of Farmers Union of Malawi is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jacob Christopher Nyirongo as the Chief Executive Officer of the Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM). FUM works to build viable, credible and sustainable farmer organizations as platforms for farmers to achieve economies of scale and engage in farm businesses more competitively. Farmer organizations consolidate farmers’ voice to influence policy; and promote collective action in engaging with agriculture input and output markets and ably access agriculture advisory services. In order to deliver on this mandate, the FUM operational strategy focuses on 3 strategic issues; 1)Institutional Development of farmer organizations, 2)Agribusiness and Market Access that supports business advisory services to farmers and fosters partnerships with private sector (e.g. agro input suppliers, grain traders, processors, commodity exchanges and financial institutions) and 3)Research, Policy and Partnerships which supports farmers participation in evidence based agriculture policy engagement, reform and implementation at all levels. Mr Nyirongo joined the Farmers Union of Malawi in 2011. Since joining the Union, he has held various portfolios and he has been part of key organizational reforms and growth. Over the years that he has worked for the Union, he has demonstrated passion and diligence in supporting the farmer cooperative movement in Malawi and spearheaded building of alliances with Government, Development Partners, Private Sector, and wider civil society in promoting and safeguarding farmers’ interests. Mr Nyirongo has a Master of Science Degree in Soil Science from Bunda College of Agriculture which was a Constituent College of the University of Malawi. Before joining the Union, he worked for the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-arid Tropics (ICRISAT), GIZ, Africa Development Bank funded Rural Income Enhancement Project, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Christian Aid, Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), and Oxfam. |