AGRICULTURE
FORM 3
Chapter 3
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
AGENCIES AND SERVICES
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Compiled By: Madalitso Damaliphesa
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AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES AND SERVICES
OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, the student should be able to:
• Identify agricultural development agencies and their services in
Malawi
• Describe the services offered by agricultural development
agencies
• Relate the importance of agricultural development agencies
on a growing population
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CONTENTS
• Agricultural development agencies and services in Malawi
o Development services required in agriculture
▪ Research
▪ Marketing
▪ Infrastructure
▪ Extension
▪ Processing
▪ Production
▪ Credit
o Agencies offering agricultural services
o Services offered by the Agricultural development agencies
• Importance of Agricultural development agencies to the growing
population
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Agricultural development agencies in Malawi
Agricultural agencies are organisations which provide agricultural
services to farmers. This is important for the economic growth of
Malawi.
Poverty can be reduced in Malawi through agriculture country wide. The
productivity of Malawi can increase if small scale farmers are provided
with the following services.
• Research
• Marketing
• Infrastructure
• Extension
• Processing
• Production
• Credit
Unions and cooperatives are also part of developmental agencies in
Malawi. They provide farmers with the services that have been
mentioned above.
Examples of agricultural developmental agencies are:-
• National association of small holder farmers of Malawi (NASFAM).
The roles of Nasfam is to provide production and marketing
services as well as farm inputs and credit to farmers.
• Malawi organic growers association (MOGA). This organization
aims at promoting production and marketing of crops.
• Mpoto Dairy farming association (MDFA). It produces and markets
milk and milk products from the farmers.
• Shire high lands milk producers association (SHIMPA):- it produces
and markets milk and milk products.
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• Mzuzu coffee planters cooperative union limited - It ensure
diversification and sustainability of farmers.
• Farmers union of Malawi (FUM)- It improves market access and
provides farmers with agricultural information.
• Ministry of agriculture and food security (MOAFS) - It creates
imployment opportunites and facilitates agricultural productivity.
• Tobacco association of Malawi (TAMA):- It produces and markets
tobacco.
• Lilongwe university of agriculture and natural resources :- it
conduct research and provide extension services.
• Chitedze Research station- it provides research and extension
services .
• Bvumbwe agriculture Research station –it provides research
services.
Services offered by agricultural development agencies
The following services are offered by agricultural development agencies:
research, marketing, infrastructure, extension, processing and
production, credit
Research
For agricultural production to increase technological development should
be implemented.
Agricultural research and technological development are a key factor in
increasing agricultural production and generating more income . upon
there poverty can be reduced and promote economic growth. The
reseachers implement improved technologies that would help to improve
agricultural production. The ministry of agriculture introduced a
department of agricultural research services (DARs) to have
responsibility on crop and live stock research with the exclusion of
tobacco, tea and sugarcane.
Benefits of research in agriculture
The benefits include:-
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• Implementation of improved varieties of crops and breeds of
livestock.
• Exchange of ideas on improved techniques of farming activates
among the researchers, farmers and other international agencies
dealing with agricultural research.
• They provide improved seed varieties and livestock breeds to the
farmers to meet the growing demand of the country.
• Develop techniques of dealing and controlling crop pest and
diseases as well as animal parasites and diseases.
• Developing improved techniques of processing and storage of farm
produce.
• Development of environment friendly farming such as organic
farming
• Raising awareness among the people of Malawi on improved
techniques of farming.
Marketing
This is a process of promoting and selling of agricultural produce.
Marketing also carried out market research to determine the needs of
people. Agricultural marketing is a key service that must be provided to
the people of Malawi to increase and achieve agricultural development.
Benefits of marketing
• Marketing encourage the farmers on proper handling of harvest to
meet the consumer in good quality.
• Marketing ensures that the agricultural produce should meet the
consumers in time since some of them are perishable and bulky.
• Marketing provides farmers with available markets information for
more profits.
• Marketing agencies ensures that the quality of the agricultural
produce is maintained.
Marketing involves the following:
• Grading and standardization to ensure that good quality products
meet the consumers.
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• Provides the farmers with market information relating to he
demands of customers and market prices of agricultural produce.
• Advertise and come up with promotion programmes for the
produce.
• Organizing transportation, packaging and storage for agriculrutal
produce.
Infrastructure
These includes roads, communication lines, water, sewage, electricity
supply and buildings. Infrastructure development is the key to the
economic development of the country. Good roads enable the produce
to reach the market in time.
Agricultural development agencies seek for funds from donors and the
government so as to improve infrastructure in the rural areas where
most of farming is done.
Agriculture development agencies provide farmers with good storage
facilities for agricultural produce. These facilities ensure that the quality
of the produce is maintained even for a long time.
Extension
It is the application of scientific research and new knowledge to
agricultural activities through farmers education. Agricultural extension
services are vital in the increase of agricultural production in Malawi.
The services are vital in the increasing of agricultural extension divisions.
The development agencies provide the farmers with necessary
information if there is need to improve the fluids. Though extension
services the farmers are able to practice the skills and technologies that
they have been learning to increase crop and livestock production.
Processing and production
Processing means the changing of nature mechanically or chemically of
agricultural produce to las longer and be attractive to the consumers.
Production is the manufacturing of agricultural raw materials into
finished products suitable for use by consumers.
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Importance of processing farm product
• Processed products can be stored longer and hence increase food
supply and food security.
• Since the products last longer without deterioration reliance on
import is reduced.
• People get employment in processing industries.
• Source foreign exchange since processed products can be
exported.
• Farmers in rural areas are stimulated to agriculture since the
industries are set close to the material suppliers in village.
• Processing makes the processing produce to have better markets
and prices.
Credit
Farmers needs to be empowered through funding projects to produce
more yields to make food security and poverty reduction. The credit
facilities provide the farmers with credits. Some of these credit facilities
are commercial banks, cooperatives and private organization. These
demand some form of security from farmers in exchange for credit
Cooperatives provide farmers with credit services and loans at affordable
interest rates. They accept a wide variety of assets ad collate.
Most cooperatives provide loans in rural farmers so that agriculture
production should be improved. The cooperatives also encourage
farmers on money savings for future use.
Importance of agricultural development agencies to the
growing population
Agricultural development agencies are very important in the following
ways:
Increase in agricultural production: these leads the Malawi county
to have enough food for the growing population. Farmers are also
taught new techniques and use of new technologies in agricultural
production. Farmers produce different varieties of food crops all the year
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round e.g irrigation schemes and green hours which enables the people
to have balanced food enough for the country.
Increase in customer satisfaction. The agricultural development
agencies introduce new technologies for marketing the produce like
trade fair in order to provide a competitive and efficient market for the
product. This provide customer satisfaction because new marketing
services provided ensure that good quality producers products are sold
to the consumers. The agencies research on the demands of the
consumers and provide them with the needed products to satisfy their
needs.
Improved health. Agricultural development agencies educate famers
on how to grow different crops and keep livestock on their farms using
information they have been taught on their farms by the agencies. Due
to varieties of production farmers are able to eat balanced diet foods.
This helps in improving the health of the growing population and
prevents malnutrition deficiencies. This also leads the people to access
balanced foods at an affordable price. The special group people also
benefit from balanced foods produced. examples are the elderly, breast
feeding mothers and people living HIV.
The agencies also teach the famers on the best feeds for their livestock
to ensure that they are healthy and produce high yields healthy animals
resist from parasites and diseases
Improved living standards of the rural people.The agencies
develop agricultural industries in rural areas for production of
agricultural products e.g cotton ginners in chikwawa, dwangwa as well
as salima sugar industries. people living in the rural area get employed
in these industries and earn income which improve their living standard.
Reduction of rural urban migration. Since the people got
employment opportunities in their areas, they are blocked from
movements to towns and cities to seek for employment. the agencies
find markets for the farm produce which leads the farmers to get in
come in their areas make them stay stable in their villages.
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REVISION EXERCISE
1. List up the service provided by the agricultural development
agencies in Malawi.
2. Define Marketing
3. Explain the benefits of research in agricultural production.
4. Why is grading and standardization important in agricultural
production?
5. How does agricultural development agencies reduce rural urban
migration?
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