The Project for Market-oriented Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (MA-SHEP) holds 10th and Final Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) Meeting.

On Tuesday 04th April, MA-SHEP project held its 10th and final Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) meeting at the Ministry of Agriculture's Conference room in Lilongwe. MA-SHEP project has been implemented in Malawi from 2017 to 2023 with the overall goal of improving livelihood of smallholder farmers in the target 27 District Agriculture Offices. Under this project, smallholder farmers have undergone a series of trainings changing their mindsets from "Grow and Sell" to "Grow to Sell". Through the Market Survey component, famers conduct market research to establish the needs on the market and produce in response to the identified needs.

The Chief Representative for JICA Malawi Office expressed his gratitude to the government of Malawi for the continuous commitment in implementing MA-SHEP activities and for developing MA-SHEP implementation guidelines which will act as a reference point for extension staff when implementing MA-SHEP activities beyond the project lifespan.

The secretary for Irrigation expressed his heartfelt appreciation to the government of Japan for the continuous support rendered to the government of Malawi. He noted that targeted farmers have benefited a lot from MA-SHEP project as such it is important to reach out to more farmers with MA-SHEP activities. He concluded by expressing hope for further cooperation between the ministry of Agriculture and JICA.