Farmers urged to embrace value-addition to make profit

Malawi: Perisha Agro and Packaging Enterprise Business Manager, Paul Gondwe Jnr, has urged farmers to embrace value addition in order to profit from their products.

Gondwe emphasised that farmers can make more money by adding value to their agricultural products rather than selling law products.

"A farmer will sell unprocessed sweet potato at K100 per kg, while sweet potato flour is sold at K900 per kg in Lilongwe, and cassava flour is sold at K700 as opposed to K100 for law cassava,” said Gondwe.

Gondwe went on to say that they are collaborating with farmers in Lilongwe who are producing grand mill flour at a higher price while selling maize bran for K1,500 per 50kg bag.

"With this value addition, farmers can make more money, which is what we advocate. Some of the challenges farmers face in the country include a lack of coordination, knowledge, and proper planning,” said Gondwe.

Clement Nyengo, the owner of Khudze Farm Enterprise, which specialises in value addition, agrees with Gondwe that adding value to products is more profitable than selling them as law products.

"Value addition is more profitable because selling value-added products can result in double or triple profits when compared to law products. A litre of law milk costs MK300, but if you make yoghurt, you make more than MK900; the only issue farmers face is capacity," Nyengo stated.

Rodrick Chataika, CEO of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Initiative, encourages farmers to embrace value addition and register their businesses in order to increase profits.

He said: "Farmers should consider value addition as a viable option; we have a memorandum of understanding with the Malawi Bureau of Standards, the Registrar of Business, and the Malawi Revenue Authority to assist small businesses with registration processes."

"I would encourage all small businesses to register their businesses so that they can trade with various ministries and companies."

Speaking at the SADC Business Forum in Maputo, Mozambique, in June last year, President Lazarus Chakwera urged SADC countries to consider adding value to agricultural products in order to empower their citizens financially.