NEW YORK-(MaraviPost)-President Lazarus Chakwera is banking on the rehabilitation of Malawi’s rail network system to boost food security across the country.

Speaking at the World Leaders Forum at Columbia University, he emphasized that this is a top priority for his government since taking office in 2020.

Malawi loses approximately 40% of its maize production to post-harvest losses annually, severely affecting food availability and exacerbating hunger levels. To address this, Chakwera’s government has invested heavily in rehabilitating the country’s dilapidated railway infrastructure.

“We are building roads, connecting with our neighbors like Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia through rail,” President Chakwera said. “The American government is also helping us with rural road construction, aiming to provide infrastructure and reduce food losses.”

Chakwera was featured alongside Garry Conille, Prime Minister of Haiti, and Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Founder and CEO of Food Systems for the Future, in the ‘Panel of World Leaders’ at the forum.

He highlighted his government’s efforts to transform Malawi’s food system by promoting agriculture commercialization and discouraging subsistence farming.

“As long as we stay within subsistence farming, it’s not going to work,” he emphasized.

Malawi’s agricultural transformation is also supported by partners like the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which has been working with the government to increase productivity and income for smallholder farmers.