Minister of Agriculture Lobin Lowe has called upon for collaborative efforts within the agriculture sector if the sector is to realize its full potential.

Lowe said whilst other ministries and sectors cooperate towards achieving common goal, the case is not the same with his ministry of agriculture where he has bemoaned that there is lack of coordination.

“Collaboration should start within a family, in this case I am talking of minister of agriculture and all stakeholders attached to this ministry,” said Lowe.

“If you go to ministry of health for example you will agree with me that there is strong collaboration among the professionals.”

On this, the agriculture minister has recommended that there be concerted efforts starting from the ministry together with all the stakeholders.

“Come to ministry of agriculture there is competition and we can talk of collaboration with some partners yet within the family we had challenges so it’s one of the issues to address here,” said Lowe.

“To make sure that going forward lectures from Bunda, Natural Resources College should be able to be on the ground otherwise we will be producing half-baked students because theoretically they are alright but hands-on experience they don’t have.”

In May this year, finance minister Felix Mlusu told Parliament that K284.4 billion was set aside for the Agriculture Sector which is 2.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and representing 14.3 percent of the total budget.

Mlusu said the provision is intended to enhance agricultural productivity as prescribed under Pillar One of the Malawi 2063 and to achieve permanent food security for all Malawians.