CISANET, through the Reducing Poverty and Inequality Project, funded by Oxfam and supported by Irish Civil Society Partnership (ICSP), organized special radio programs on the 5th and 8th of December on Mudziwathu community radio in Mchinji and Chisomo radio in Lilongwe, respectively. The programs aimed at discussing the issues of access to profitable markets for smallholder farmers with various stakeholders.
The programs focused on how to increase awareness amongst the local communities and all Malawians on the available markets, both local and international. The panelists also discussed how they can enhance collaboration between civil society organizations and district councils to improve smallholder farmers’ access to profitable agricultural markets.
The panelists comprised of representatives from the Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (MITC), who emphasized on informing the public about the international markets and what steps and procedures farmers need to follow to sell their farm produce outside Malawi and also spelled out how they help individual farmers that reach out on the importance of being in cooperatives and assist them from such groups to access both local and international markets. The Ministry of Trade representative stressed the government’s interventions in promoting smallholders’ access to profitable markets and in strengthening market structures such as aggregation centers.
Farmers, on their part, addressed specific challenges they face in accessing markets for their produce. These include a lack of awareness of well-established markets where their products can be sold at fair prices and being excluded from demonstration sessions, which could serve as platforms to showcase their offerings and attract external buyers. CSOs highlighted policy gaps that hinder farmers’ market access and the reforms they are advocating for. CISANET members, under the access to markets thematic group, outlined what CISANET is doing to ensure farmers receive timely information about profitable markets.