By Malawi News Agency
Legume crops in Malawi are especially important not only for their potential to soil fertility, but also in overcoming nutritional deficiencies.
Research has shown that Malawi, being the second largest producer of pigeon peas in the southern and eastern Africa after Kenya, can also earn more forex through legume export such as pigeon peas, as their prices are very competitive on the international market compared to other crops.
In response to governments call for increased legume production, Phalombe based Nanguluwe women cooperative under Naminjira extension planning area has for the past years engaged in intercropping with the aim of accommodating cereals and legumes on one piece of land.
The cooperative’s chair lady Regina Mpauche said during a media trip organized by Cisanet with funding from Christian Aid that though each of the 15 members, the group has made tremendous strides in as far as pigeon peas production is concerned since 2004 when the group was initiated.
She said last year alone, the group realized 45 bags of which 24 of them were sold to Nalingula and Namikango schools courtesy of World Food Programe (WFP) at MK350 per Kilogram.
This means that if not for WFP, the cooperative would by now not have sold anything.
While acknowledging pigeon peas has potential in agribusiness, one of the members Mary Masikini sited delays in farm gate prices by government as one of the major challenges that contributes to their loss after selling the crop.
“This is why we want to engage in contract farming so that we are able to grow the legume according to the quantity that the contractors need. This method will make us have a picture of what we will gain after selling it; otherwise vendors will keep on reaping from us because they know we don’t have any other option as we also lack storage facilities.
Masikini then emphasized the need for exchange visits as well as availability of improved seeds in a bid to improve quality of the legume for fast selling.
She also described value addition as essential in the promotion of export markets and opportunities.
Civil Society Agriculture Network (Cisanet) National Director, Tamani Nkhono said there was need for broader legume development in order to make its value chain beneficial to the farmers who in this case are vulnerable.
“Government should establish schemes whereby farmers themselves will be able to polish, pack and then export products from the legume, just as it is done with rice,” said Nkhono.
He also appealed for more research to determine high yielding varieties which are also of high quality if major players are to be attracted.
Legume and Oil Seed Officer for Phalombe, Givinor Chifunga said government, apart from finding proper markets for the growers had also introduced new varieties to ensure quality of the seed in order to attract more profitable customers.
“We have introduced the improved seeds called Mwaiwathu Alimi so that we upscale the legume. We have identified farmers who will grow on a pure stand so that we see how the outcome will be like,” said Chifunga.
Chifunga said out of 0.5 hectares of land that the legume’s farmers hold in the district, about 37 000 metric tonnes of pigeon peas was harvested in the 2013/14 growing season.
He however, said though the crop has potential in as far as income to the farmers is concerned, there was need for the availability of the improved seed locally as well as regular trainings for the farmers so that they know how they can best take care of the crop for better results as most of them don’t have storage facilities.
India remains the world’s largest producer of pigeon peas with about 70 percent of the global production. In Malawi, the legume is intercropped in the southern region by smallholder farmers but they are planted as boundary markers by households in the northern region.
About 65 percent of pigeon peas produced are consumed at domestic level while some are sold to informal traders who then sell to local processors.
As of 2009, Malawi exported about 60 percent of the raw commodity and hopefully, the number will increase in the coming years.
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