A cooking oil factory in Machinga has resumed production after 15 years of silence, raising hopes of jobs for unemployed youths and a reliable market for farmers struggling to sell their produce.
The factory, located in Malowa Village under Traditional Authority Nsanama, restarted operations on October 3, 2026, processing sunflower into cooking oil.
Group Village Head Malowa, Yahaya Misolo, said the revival could give residents a chance to earn money through piecework and other economic activities linked to the factory.
“Developments like this are very rare, and I am grateful to SMEDCO for taking this initiative. My people will at least have piecework opportunities to help sustain their livelihoods,” he said.
Misolo said he supported the initiative when the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Corporation (SMEDCO) approached local leaders, recognising the potential benefits for a community where many people depend on farming and small-scale activities to survive.
The return of production offers hope to young people who struggle to find jobs and some of whom cross into neighbouring countries in search of better livelihoods.
SMEDCO Media and Communications Officer Micah Nthere said the factory is expected to create employment opportunities for young people while providing farmers with a market for their agricultural produce.
Nthere said the facility would also provide a market for commodities such as rice, groundnuts and sunflower as SMEDCO seeks to promote local processing and reduce Malawi’s dependence on imported products.
For smallholder farmers, the availability of a reliable buyer could help ease the struggle to sell their harvests. However, the benefits will depend on the factory’s purchasing capacity, the prices it offers and its ability to maintain production.
Agricultural expert Ronald Chilumpha welcomed the revival, saying Malawi could create more economic opportunities by processing agricultural produce into finished products instead of relying on the sale of raw commodities.
He called for support to revive existing factories and establish new processing facilities, arguing that local industries could help connect farmers to markets while creating employment.
Economist Bertha Bangara said the initiative could strengthen marketing networks for smallholder farmers and help Malawi save foreign exchange by reducing imports of products that can be manufactured locally.
She said the country could also earn foreign exchange if the factory’s value-added products reached export markets.
“It helps create a marketing network for local smallholder farmers by providing a readily available market for their produce, which in turn helps generate forex once the value-added product is exported and reduces importation of the product,” she said.
The factory has already made a start. By October 3, it had processed 1,000 kilograms of sunflower, producing more than 230 litres of refined cooking oil.
The figures mark the return of production, but the bigger question is whether the factory can operate consistently, secure enough sunflower and other raw materials, and maintain demand for its products.
For residents of Malowa, the revival has reopened the possibility of earning an income from opportunities that were absent during the factory’s long period of inactivity.
If the factory sustains production, farmers could gain another outlet for their crops while young people could find work closer to home.