Deputy Minister of Local Government Unity and Culture, Joyce Chitsulo, on Friday officially handed over K157 million cooking oil refinery equipment to Bomfa Cooperative in the area of Senior Chief Mphomwa in Kasungu District.
The machine has been financed through the Transforming Agriculture Through Diversification and Entrepreneurship (TRADE) Programme.
It is expected to boost the cooperative's cooking oil production capacity which is currently at 50 000 litres per year.
Chitsulo said government has plans to empower farmers through various ways including supporting them with equipment that can help in value addition to agricultural produce.
"I am impressed with what the women under Bomfa Cooperative are doing by having a vision and working towards achieving it.
"We have the capacity as a country to produce our own things and cut down on imports. That way the prices of commodities can also go down," she said.
The Deputy Minister said government is also encouraging establishment of mega farms to boost production in order to achieve food security and generate foreign exchange.
Chairperson for the cooperative, Zainah Kapachika, said the members have adopted the farming-as-business approach to create worth for themselves as rural women and to contribute towards national development.
She hailed the TRADE Programme for assisting the cooperative towards achieving its vision of establishing a modern cooking oil factory.