Farmer feeding cows procured through AGCOM
All was gone and lost for Ethel Chilewani who continued to live hopelessly and helplessly after losing another husband to divorce having lost the previous to death.
Ethel in her early thirties, has for several years been struggling to make ends meet for her household, being the only breadwinner at her home. She nearly break into tears when she tried to explain the hassles she has been going through together with her children
Ethel recalls several nights of going to bed with an empty stomach, failing to buy clothes for her children, and being unable to provide school necessities for her two children that are attending primary education.
She says, “The problems started when I lost my husband but when I married again, things were a bit better. Now that the other husband has left us, we have been struggling to make ends meet.”
She adds, “It has been difficult for me to provide even the basic needs such as food, clothing and other necessities to my children.”
Despite living in such hash conditions, one thing which the suffering did not take from Ethel is her sharp mind. When asked on what she thinks could have been the best support to her, she intelligently sums it up, economic empowerment.
She explains, “All I needed was something to do that could be a source of income for me and my children.”
Just like many farmers at Mkando in Mulanje, Ethel does not have enough land for farming. Her field is about 0.2 hactare in size and cannot produce enough harvest for food and excess to sell.
Many farmers in the area survive on daily farming. Mkando Milk Bulking Group (MBG) which is under Shire Highlands Milk Producers Association (SHMPA) was the nearest place for Ethel to visit and ask for help after seeing other women excelling with dairy farming.
Authorities at the MBG assessed and considered her as a needy, and she was listed among the immediate beneficiaries of the pass-on-programme through which dairy farmers give a calf or cow to fellow farmers as a payback of a calf they also received from other farmers.
With support from the Agricultural Commercialization (AGCOM) Project, SHMPA is distributing 1,000 daily cattle to farmers and Ethel is one the beneficiaries of the initiative.
She was together with other farmers trained on daily cattle management before receiving the cow.
She explains, “When I visited the daily bulking group office at Mkando, I was told that I have been considered to be assisted but I should wait. I later got communication that, we should go for training at Luchenza organized by SHMPA with support from AGCOM,”
Ethel in tears of joy further explained that it is after that training that she received her cow.
When asked on how she feels after receiving the cow, five words were enough for Ethel, “My life has been restored.”
Ethel believes that when the cow starts giving milk, she will say goodbye to all the suffering. She hopes to be able to provide her children with all the basic needs, and says she is very grateful of what AGCOM has done to her life.
SHMPA’s field officer Zione Chiphaka says that this is part of the MK1.2 billion grant which the association is receiving from the AGCOM project in tranches,
Chiphaka explains, “In our proposal we indicated that part of the grant will be used to procure and distribute 1,000 daily cattle to our farmers and it includes training the farmers before they receive the animals. We have so far distributed 300 cows to the farmers.”
AGCOM National Project Coordinator Dr. ted Nakhumwa says the project encourages that beneficiaries should be trained on the value chain they are plying to make sure that they benefit from the project and for sustainable and increased production.
AGCOM is a six-year Malawi government flagship project being implanted with a $95 million credit facility from the World Bank.
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