ICAR Research Data Repository for Knowledge Management
Red alternative to Malawi s green gold
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View Archive Info| Field | Value | |
| Title |
Red alternative to Malawi s green gold
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| Creator |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
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| Description |
Over the past decade, sweet pepper has been promoted widely in Malawi in an attempt to diversify the country s agricultural production. It is a good alternative to tobacco, the country s green gold and main foreign exchange earner for years, but whose sales are under pressure from the drop in levels of people smoking worldwide. The paprika growers virtually all small-holders to a man currently grow and export 1.5 million kg of paprika a year and there is still room for expansion. Their produce is exported to regionally (Zambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe) and to the USA and Europe, notably Spain, to be used as spices or for food colouring. To organise production, processing and export more efficiently, the Paprika Association of Malawi, together with producers, has established small farmers associations 36 in all so far. With these associations in place the growers have gained the confidence of input suppliers, such as fertiliser companies, who are willing to supply them on credit terms. The associations are opening bank accounts for members savings, which they can use as collateral for loans. The producers associations also have an advantage in marketing since it is always easier to sell in bulk as a group to exporting companies. Prices for paprika vary between t 0.34 to t 1.40 per kg, according to grade. The initiative to establish the farmers associations impressed the Danish government into making a grant of MWK18 million Malawi Kwachwa (Euro 300,000) to strengthen them. Over the past decade, sweet pepper has been promoted widely in Malawi in an attempt to diversify the country s agricultural production. It is a good alternative to tobacco, the country s green gold and main foreign exchange earner for years,... |
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| Date |
2014-10-16T09:06:11Z
2014-10-16T09:06:11Z 2002 |
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| Type |
News Item
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| Identifier |
CTA. 2002. Red alternative to Malawi?s green gold. Spore 97. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
1011-0054 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/46427 |
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| Language |
en
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| Relation |
Spore;97
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| Publisher |
CTA
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| Source |
Spore
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