By Alex Chitwere , MANA
African Development Bank (AfDB) has reassured government of Malawi of its continued support in addressing development challenges faced in the country.
ADB’s Acting Country Manager, Eyerusalem Fasika made the remarks on Wednesday during the launch of the Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP) phase one in Chikwawa.
She said the organization would continue to support efforts of the government in fighting challenges outlined in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) III, ADB’s High five priority areas, the African Union Agenda 2063 and the 2030 agenda on Sustainable Development Goals
Fasika said, “The project being launched in line with the African Development Bank’s Country strategy for Malawi covering 2018-2022, the Bank’s 10 Year strategy 2013-2022 which identifies agriculture related infrastructure as a key factor in improving agricultural production, agriculture and food security as areas of special emphasis.”
She added, “The project was in line with three out of the Bank’s ‘High five priorities by addressing feed Africa, light up Africa and improve the quality of lives of people of Africa.
According to the ADB head, the project would in addition to initiating agriculture commercialization, modernization and investment promotion lead to an annual energy saving of 15 megawatts.
The then Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Kondwani Nankhumwa acknowledged the support and good working relationship that exists between government and the bank
He thanked the President for the support to the work in which the agriculture sector was undertaking.
Nankhumwa mentioned of projects like the agriculture commercialization, the cotton development and the farm input subsidy programme as some of the initiatives by government.
The Phase one of the SVTP will cover an area of 43, 000 hectares but when completed across the three phases, an estimated 100 000 hectares will be covered.
