MALAWI – Pyxus Agriculture Limited, subsidiary of United Kingdom-based company Pyxus Agriculture Holding Limited, focusing on groundnuts and sunflower value addition ventures has announced that it will invest $50 million (about K37 billion) in Malawi’s agriculture sector in the next five years.
The firm, which started its operations in April this year, is targeting to incorporate about 10,000 farmers in its first growing season in groundnuts, sunflower and beans farming.
The US$50m is an addition to the US$11 million the company invested as a base in its first operational year, which is intended to set up production facilities to enhance value adding initiative.
Managing Director, Pyxus Agriculture Limited Malawi, Ron Ngwira said that the first growing season follows various value addition mechanisms to a number of legumes which the farmers will be producing so that they can be getting enough profits at the end of every farming season.
“We would want to achieve our vision of transforming people’s lives by utilizing our agricultural expertise by strengthening our relationship with our contracted farmers and continue to pursue production of high-quality agricultural products to provide to our customers through these farmers,” said Ngwira.
Ngwira further explained they are targeting about 50,000 metric tons of groundnuts from its contracted smallholder farmers during this growing season which will be value added and processed for international markets.
Ngwira said the company will be helping the contracted smallholder farmers with access to loans from some local commercial banks as well as providing extension and processing services to the farmers which also forms part of the value addition mechanism.
At present, Pyxus Agriculture Limited have five business areas in direct farming, smallholder production, groundnuts production, crop service and Biomass.
On direct farming, the company engages in the large-scale commercial production of various crops as well as seed multiplication.
They also engage in the research and development of crop and agriculture technologies for improving crop production of both our smallholder and commercial farming. It is also involved in reforestation.
