WHY NOT COMMERCIALISE SISAL PRODUCTION IN MALAWI?
Did you know that around 1920s there was actually a sisal estate in the Lower Shire? Ever since, there has not been any record on commercial sisal production anywhere else in the country. Sisal production is only reported at local farm level and it has continued to dwindle over the past centuries even at that level. Sisal is a fibre of Agave species; it is a widely cultivated and naturalised fibre in many countries like South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Angola, Madagascar, Venezuala and Brazil. Sisal yields a stiff fibre that is used in making products which are highly used around the globe. In the past, several species of Agave were used for fibre production, but presently it is a commercially grown species in different countries.Sisal is locally known as Khonje in many parts of the country. It is mostly used for ornamental practices especially in urban areas, it is also preferably used for fencing dimba gardens in the rural areas to keep away livestock from crops and on a small