The Greenbelt Authority has singled out inadequate access to easy markets for local farmers as one of the challenges that is constraining progress of the authority.

Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Authority Amon Mluwira has told the Parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances in Lilongwe that the authority has not done better in terms of marketing its products.

“Looking to where we are coming from, we haven’t done much better on this one [access to markets] because we have just started,” acknowledged Mluwira.

However, Mluwira told YFM Online that the Authority is working on arranging markets for smallholder farmers both local and on the international market.

“What we are doing is to find international market for the farmers and we have some people outside this country that are interested in our projects and some of these are not necessarily investors but some are looking for our products so coming next financial year this ,will be a thing of the past,” assured Mluwira.

Meanwhile, Chairperson for the Government Assurances Committee Jephter Mwale has pledged assisting the Authority in terms of awareness in order to market their products.

“We will take a role as we are going to our respective constituencies to sensitize the people on the products that are coming from the Green Belt Authority,” said Mwale.

Since its introduction in 2017, one of the mandates of the Green Belt Authority is to champion commercial irrigation farming.