Lilongwe Dairy Limited, a leading local manufacturing company and one of the recipients of the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund (MICF) came out shining at this year’s 30^th Malawi International Trade Fair, held in Blantyre as the Best Manufacturer and one of the best exhibitors at the Trade Fair.

In scooping the first position, the General Manager for Lilongwe Dairy Limited, Edwin Chilundo described the award as an important recognition of the investment and innovation that the company has pioneered.

“This is a testament that our company has been able to meet the Malawian customer expectations”, said Mr. Chilundo.

Under the MICF supported project, Lilongwe Dairy is currently implementing a two-year project aimed at managing Raw Milk wastage for small-scale Dairy farmers.

 “One of our key achievements under the MICF project has been improvement to the collection of rural milk, through the construction of a modern depot in Thyolo district, which has been equipped with modern fleet of local and intercity milk collection tankers,” explains Mr. Chilundo.

Through the same project, 184 small scale farmers from vulnerable households have also received dairy cows called, heifers to help improve their livelihood through dairy farming.

 “Our aim is to strengthen the supply chain by bringing it closer to the farmer and by offering milk and milk beverages that reach the remotest parts of the market at the best price preposition. We are aiming to promote productivity at the farm level, and increasing the national averages of milk consumption, which Malawi is said to have the lowest in the region,” says Mr. Chilundo.

With over 300 employees, Lilongwe Dairy Limited has managed to successfully distribute its products nationwide and are also exporting some of its products to the international markets in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and DR Congo.

MICF is a matching grant facility established to provide co-financing to the private sector for innovative inclusive business initiatives in the agricultural, manufacturing and logistics sectors. Development partners that are investing in the Challenge fund include the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UKaid, IFAD and KfW.