‘PIGEON PEAS MARKETS SCARCE’ – GOVT

Government through the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has conceded that it is struggling to find markets for pigeon peas.

This has been said by the minister responsible Salim Bagus on Friday when he was opening a farm produce warehouse for Namulenga Producers and Marketing Cooperative in Mulanje.

Bagus said India which had better pigeon peas markets is no longer reliable now.

“We are trying to explore other local and international markets where the produce will be sold at better prices,” said Bagus.

Bagus has further asked the cooperative to utilize the warehouse as they seek better markets other than rushing to sell their produce to vendors.

The cooperative’s chairperson, Modesta Chumba, said bringing together their farm produce was a challenge as they had no storage facility.

“On behalf of my fellow farmers I want to thank government for constructing a 12, 000 metric tons warehouse for our cooperative,” said Chumba.

Apart from Namulenga warehouse, 26 other warehouses have also been constructed across Malawi.

The African Development Bank (ADB) through Competitiveness and Job Creation Support (CJCS) supported construction of all the 27 warehouses.