On 16 November, the Government of Flanders approved a grant of 5 million Euro for agricultural projects in Malawi. A total of 300,000 families in rural areas will benefit. “The majority of the population consists of smallholder farmers. By increasing their productivity and improving market access for crops, Flanders chooses to contribute towards an efficient agricultural policy in Malawi,” according to Minister-president Geert Bourgeois.
The projects focus on sustainable agriculture and diversification of food production, capacity building of the Ministry of Agriculture and cooperation and consistency of the project activities.
In 2011, the Government of Malawi launched the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach (ASWAp) to give direction to all sectors in the agricultural sector. As with the previous project, the financing of the follow-up project (ASWAp II) will be provided through the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) under direct WorldBank supervision.
Flanders’ cooperation with Malawi is entirely focused on the agricultural sector.