By Mc Donald Chapalapata, a Contributor
National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has supported the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural resources (Luanar) research dissemination conference with K2.7 million.
Luanar has organized a Research Dissemination conference on ‘Sustainable Agricultural Transformation for Significance Growth of the Agricultural Sector’ scheduled for 13th and 14th October 2021 at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) where it is also expected that the Sustainable Food Systems for Rural Transformation and Resilience (TANSFORM) program will be implemented.
Speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday, NBM Capital City Service Centre Manager George Nyirenda said the Bank is cognizant of the fact that agriculture significantly contributes to employment, economic growth, poverty reduction, food security, and nutrition in this country and that there is therefore a need to fuel agricultural sector growth in order to aid the country’s development, hence NBM plc support towards the sector.
“As the Bank of the Nation, we are interested in what goes on in the agriculture sector because Agriculture is the backbone of our nation’s economy. We have been financing small scale and large-scale farmers in value chains of tobacco, maize, macadamia nuts and lemon grass. In fact, as at August 2021, NBM plc has financed farmers with over USD 18 million.”
“NBM plc is aware that small scale farmers in Malawi’s Agri-business sector face a lot of hurdles such as lack of access to funding for investment in agricultural equipment and other farm implements. That is why in November 2020, we rolled out a Farm Infrastructure and Implements loan facility to aid eligible farmers in both the small- scale and Estate sub-sectors in acquiring agricultural equipment and other farm implements,” said Nyirenda.
Nyirenda said NBM plc is committed to supporting the agriculture sector hence its support to the dissemination conference.
Luanar Vice Chancellor Professor Emmanuel Kaunda thanked NBM for the support saying it will go a long way in making the conference a success.
“We are very grateful for the support we get from National Bank of Malawi. You have been supporting us in different events and we do not take this for granted, you are a true partner in agricultural development,” said Kaunda.
