Paramount Holdings Limited, Mega Farms Project partner to increase soya production, secure market in China

The Mega Farms Programme, which President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera launched in September 2023, continues to receive support from the private sector, with Paramount Holdings Limited (PHL) being the latest to partner with the programme to mobilize soya farmers to increase production in Malawi.

PHL and the Mega Farms Programme have since challenged soya bean farmers in Malawi to increase their production, revealing that PHL has already secured a market for soya beans in China.

Controller of Agriculture Extension and Technical Services, who is also responsible for the Private Sector Mega Farms Programme, Dr Alfred Mwenefumbo, said there is huge market demand for soya beans in China and America.

Mwenifumbo said there was, therefore, a need for the local farmers to take advantage of this development to maximize profits from the crop.

He made the remarks at the Mega Farms Support Unit Offices in Lilongwe during the launch of the 2023-2024 Mega Farm Soya Season. Over 100 soya bean farmers attended the launch.

Mega Farms Programme is a brainchild of President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera to eliminate hunger and poverty by empowering subsistence farmers to graduate to agricultural mechanization in an effort to enhance crop productivity.

During his 50th Parliamentary State of the Nation Address (SONA), Chakwera reaffirmed his commitment to revolutionize the agricultural sector through mega farms.

Mwenifumbo disclosed barely two months into the implementation of mega farms, Malawi has already started receiving enquiries from firms in China and other countries, which are looking for crops they can sell to them.

He said China has since certified Paramount Holdings Limited as the only company in Malawi to export soybeans to China, which also means the creation of structured markets for the crops farmers will produce under the Mega Farms Programme.

“And structured markets also require structured production. What we have currently is that we have soya farmers who are scattered throughout the country. And you get to a point when a farmer says, I have so much soya [beans]. So, what we are trying to do is to unite them. They should become one association. They should be talking to one another. They should be encouraging one another. They should produce together, they should market together,” he said.

Mwenifumbo added that an association will enable the farmers “to lobby for things that they require for their production and so as for the market”, including accessing credit and financing from financiers such as the Malawi Agricultural and Industrial Investment Corporation (MAICC) and commercial banks.

“So, our farmers have Paramount Holdings Limited, which has got companies in China that are off takers. Paramount Holdings Limited is supposed to export to a particular off-taker in China. For us, we are not worried about who they’re going to export in China. Our worry is for the farmers to have an off-taker in Malawi and the answer is Paramount Holdings Limited,” he said.

One of the directors at PHL, Mahesh Ghedia, assured that they will provide the contracted farmers with inputs such as certified seed and inoculant on credit.

Ghedia described the demand for Malawi soya in China as “very huge”, stressing that this is a great opportunity to the small scale farmers to reap from their labour.

“As a country, I don’t think that we can be able to fulfill the requirement. They are looking for around 100, 000 metric tons annually, which costs about $650 per metric tonne,” he said.

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