Malawi’s livestock production low

Malawi’s livestock production has drastically dropped; a trend agricultural officials have attributed to poor livestock management skills among farmers.

Public Relations Officer for the Ministry of Agriculture, Sara Tione said despite putting in place a number of interventions, livestock production continues to drop.

“The Ministry is making a number of efforts to promote and increase livestock production in the country through different projects including ‘pass on programmes,” said Tione.

“The extension of the programmes faces a big challenge as many farmers find it difficult to manage livestock due to lack of capacity.”

Tione further said the Ministry is vibrant in making sure that the gap which is there should be filled by making sure that farmers have access to relevant information pertaining to livestock management.

“We noted that there is a gap where livestock farmers fail to acquire information pertaining to livestock management. As such, the Ministry has come up with a number of ways to solve the problem like recruiting more staffs,” said Tione.

A livestock farmer from Thunga village in Phalombe, Charity Buleya said farmers in Malawi have the capacity to produce more livestock if information pertaining to animal farming is made available to them.

“As farmers, we have the potential to produce more if the required information on feeds and disease control measures is made available to us,” complained Buleya.

Livestock production is an integral part of the agricultural industry in Malawi.