A Potato Gold mine

Fradwell Kalema says he has struck gold and dares you he is convinced he has finally turned his fortunes around and is well on his path to becoming the “stinking rich”of Chongoni Hills community-all from his toils from the soils of sleepy Dedza, central Malawi.

Quite a remarkable 24 month turn-around romantic tale emanating from this rather laid back farmer from the district well known for its fair share of Irish potato farmers but hardly any millionaires from the enterprise.

In 1993, Kalema inherited six acres of land from his family, dedicating it to potato farming for the urban market in Lilongwe city. Since then, his yield has continued to deteriorate with the worst season being in 2018 largely due to diminishing seed potato potency and late blight disease that has terrorized his farm land for decades.

Kalema’s is just one of the direct farming households in Malawi being reached out by the International Potato Center (CIP), one of the 15 research centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)—a global research consortium for a food secure future world-wide.

“In order to improve food and nutritional security and generate profitable income, the project seeks to enable farmers sustainably access scientifically improved seed and expertise to manage production in varying growing seasons,”says Thoko Mvula, a CIP Research Technician who has worked with Kalema’s Chongone Potato Hills Cooperative farmers for the past four years.

Mvula says the five year project, funded by Irish Aid and implemented by CIP and partners in the extension, nutrition, research and trade departments of Malawi Gorvenment and the Root and Tuber Crops Developent Trust, emphasizes on engaging farmers to be vigilant and religiously use potato seed certified by government, to further generate and timely own seed to ensure early planting, follow cropping calendars, weed constantly, seek available counsel to manage Late Blight throughout the growing period.

He is adamant that’s all it takes to strike the Gold from potatoes.

So far, the project has reached over 27,000 potato farmers in ten Districts namely Thyolo, Neno, Ntcheu, Dedza, Lilongwe, Ntchisi, Dowa, Mchinji, Kasungu and Mzimba. These are farmers that are now growing high yielding, early maturing, resilient and market preferred potato varieties. Further, high quality seed potato is increasingly becoming available to these farmers leading to improved productivity and incomes.

“The return in 2018 was not good at all even for farmers with decades of experience like myself. We did not have access to enough food. For years, our seed has not been enough for winter and summer cropping and almost always badly diseased right on the onset of the season. We made huge losses and some of us had to sell off livestock and take up unsavory loans to survive, raise funds for purchase of seed, fertilizers and other farm inputs for the 2019 agriculture season,” recalls Kalema.

When Kalema and his neighbors joined the government and CIP initiative, which among its many objectives aims at ensuring that farmers have access to improved and disease-free potato seed for increased productivity, they got the right seed and learnt how to multiply it for the seasons to come. Collectively, the Chongoni farmers mobilized and learnt to better manage their age old nemesis, Late Blight disease, and limit its influence on their income and nutrition.

Kalema, now free of farm inputs debt, loan sharks and also owning a new thriving Agro Dealer business and grocery store, says that within 18 months of his 2018 nightmare, he has a profitable enterprise from his own better potato produce and seed.

He adds that he now has better skills and knowledge to manage his life and sustainably.

In the just ended rainy season (2019/2020), Kalema grew 2.5 hectares of his favourite Violet potato variety from seed that he multiplied on his own, valued at K562,500, spending a further MK600,000 on fertilisers and labour and  realised more than K9,000,000, a scenario way beyond his wildest imaginations only 19 months earlier

Proud Kalema says a 2 tonner reconditioned pick up vehicle is on its way, recently bought using the potato proceeds of the just ended rainy season. Sales continue as he still has potato seed which farmers from within his village are buying as seed.

“Today, I do not just make a fortune from large volume sales from my quadrupled harvest. I make my own healthy seed which is available all year round even for the current winter cropping. I am able to generate and multiply healthy seed for myself and my own community,” says Kalema.

Ends