FFM+ launch reflects the new dynamics of the agricultural sector in Malawi

As part of the Fit for Market Plus (FFM+) programme, a COLEAD team visited Malawi in March. To date, 65 FFM+ applications for support have been received from this country. The mission was an opportunity to meet with FFM+ programme candidates and share the COLEAD/FFM+ offer. This is significantly more than in previous programmes.

Specifically, FFM+ applications have been received from 47 horticultural MSMEs (producers, processors), 12 support structures for smallholder farmers, 5 service providers and 1 professional association.

This positive increase in the number of applications is likely due to the growing visibility of COLEAD in the Southern Africa region and the dynamism of the country’s private and public sectors. Another explanatory factor is the involvement of the Malawi Embassy in Brussels, which circulated information about the programme, especially to the Malawi Investment & Trade Centre, which played an important role in promoting FFM+ to potential partner beneficiaries.

The FFM+ launch event took place at the Kumbali Country Lodge Hotel in Lilongwe. It was followed by a networking lunch and an afternoon of bilateral meetings. These meetings helped deepen discussions on applications for support and contributed to setting the framework for the drafting of development projects.

FFM+ was designed and will be implemented in continuity with the FFM (FFM/FFM SPS) programmes and the results of the COLEAD COVID-19 action plan implemented since March 2020. This 25 million EUR programme over 5 years is funded by the European Union and the OACPS. FFM+ support is designed to contribute to the transition of ACP countries’ agriculture towards a more sustainable food and agricultural system, integrating priority areas of action identified by the EU’s “Farm to Fork” strategy of the Green Deal.

 This activity is supported by the Fit For Market+ programme, implemented by COLEAD within the Framework of Development Cooperation between the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union.