Malawi team newsletter: Nov/Dec 2022

MALAWI

SHA/UP November & December Newsletter

P1 - Key Programme Highlights

P2 - Update on our programmes and looking back at our impact

P3 - Operations, research and our team

HIGHLIGHTS

By Amy Frost, Country Director (Maternity cover)

2022 was another successful fundraising year for our various projects, particularly for our Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme. Delivering 12 projects across 15 districts valued at $3.2m, SHA/UP has reached over 1 million people with sustainable WASH services. Our fundraising efforts now have secured approximately $2.6m in the 2023 pipeline to scale up WASH services. Notably annual funding has increased for our Dowa Integrated WASH (DI-WASH) and Beyond Boreholes projects in Dowa and Thyolo respectively. We've also provided support to the Mozambique country program in securing $300,000 from the Medicor foundation; an important step towards building a strong regional WASH footprint. A huge thank you to our donor partners for continuously supporting our work and the communities we work with.

As our 5 year European Union (EU) funded KULIMA BETTER project comes to an end, SHA/UP held a learning event titled: “Agricultural research key to Sustainable Agricultural Production and Diversification” bringing together 130 stakeholders (93 men, 37 women) from the agricultural sector including project partners, private sector, and civil society organisations to share lessons learned and recommendations from interventions such as the Farmer Field Schools approach. The guest of honour was the Controller of Agricultural Extension and Technical Services (CAETS) Mr. Alfred Mwenefumbo and the EU Head of Cooperation, Mr. Ivo Hoefkins.

Joining the global campaign of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, our Reaching our Goals (ROG) and Sustainable Production, Economic growth, Accountability and Resilience (SPEAR) projects, along with the Malawi Irish Consortium against GBV, supported the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare (MoGCDSW) with hosting the national launch in Dedza, graced by the Honourable Minister Dr. Patricia Kaliati. To kickstart the launch, a netball game was played by 16 of our ROG participants with messages of anti-GBV, gender equity, and empowerment messages shared throughout the match.

P4 - Stories from the people we work with

SHA / UP NOVEMEBER & DECEMBER, 2022

A ROG learner receiving a trophy on behalf of the winning netball team during the national launch of 16 days of activism against GBV in Dedza

Under the Sustainable Energy Management Unit (SEMU), SHA/UP participated in the national energy conference in Mangochi on 29-30th November 2022, under the theme "Energy: Catalyst for Sustainable Development". Organized by the Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi (REIAMA) together with the Ministry of Energy, the conference was a learning platform for opportunities and innovations in the energy sector. With projects funded by the Scottish Government, Energising Development (EnDev) and the Embassy of Ireland, SHA/UP provided recommendations for policymakers including creating designated space for microgrids in rural electrification, smart subsidies, reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) and forex barriers, and investment in clean energy research and capacity building.

The EU funded SoSuRe project held goat fairs in Mulanje targeting Social Cash Transfer (SCTP) beneficiaries that have the potential to graduate (exit) from the programme. Eligible beneficiaries, through a voucher system, receive 4 female goats and 1 male goat. As part of building livelihood capacity, these goats can be used for consumption at the household level, selling for income, and as a source of manure through goat droppings that will boost crop productivity.

As part of its national-level WASH advocacy efforts, on the 14th of November 2022, SHA/UP had an audience with the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Mr. Elias Chimulambe to highlight UPs current WASH work across the country and share intended plans as a key partner in emergency response and installations of solar water supply systems. A key interest of the Ministry is the functioning and impact of the charity: water funded solar powered system in T/A Msakambewa, Dowa that will be the prototype for learning and adaption for similar water systems across the country.

Bonanza

The popular Chitetezo Mbaula football bonanza was held in Phalombe district, registering a staggering 729 unit sales of the fuel-efficient cookstoves within three days of the tournament. The matches played at Traditional Authority level and using sports as a community mobilization tool, the bonanza championed stove sales as well as behavior change messages exposing the community to using more environmentally-friendly ways of cooking to increase their household income, save time and take action against deforestation. Cholera prevention messages were integrated throughout the matches. The winning team in the bonanza received prize money of MK60,000 while second place got MK35,000; third place MK25,000; and fourth place MK15,000.

SHA/UP Energy Programme Manager, Will Coley

Goat Fair at Chigonjetso Cluster in Mulanje

Winners of T/A Chiwalo, Phalombe

Principle Secretary Chimulambe, (middle), SHA/UP DCD Chirambo (second from right), SHA/UP WASH Manager Tomoka (second from left) and other ministry officials

Self Help Africa/United Purpose in Malawi continues to work towards greater integration across our teams and programmes, as well as in our systems that enable us to implement programmes across the country. Recently we have been focusing on implementing one management information system, salesforce, across all aspects of our work; including HR, Programme management and reporting and IT support.

Training sessions have been held both virtually and face to face to ensure all team members who will be using the system are supported to understand how it works and what the system is being used for - over time more functionality will be rolled out, so that we have global management information available for everyone within the organisation. Refresher training is already planned for early 2023.

RESEARCH & LEARNING

IMPROVED LIVELIHOOODS AMONG FARMER FIELD SCHOOL MEMBERS

The End of Term Evaluation has revealed that food household food security has improved for farmers that participated evident in the increase in yield. Analysis of the household survey data shows that the majority of the households are now harvesting 10-33 fifty Kg bags (522-1676Kgs) from an acre of land, a sharp rise from 4-5 bags five years ago. With the surplus production, farmers are able to feed their families and sell produce which improves food security and income levels.

A total of 12,943 Farmer Field Schools have been established reaching out to over 350,000 smallholder farmers (with 60% being women). Aspects of the approach have generated important spillover benefits for non-participants, particularly in the acquisition of skills and knowledge and to become more resilient to climate change.

One of the farmer field school members from Mzimba District, collecting data from the study plot

The livestock pass-on programme has helped households initiate livestock rearing as an alternative income source, as well as a store of wealth that could be utilized in the case of shocks. Farmers purchased livestock such as goats, pigs, and cattle and the livestock equivalent (+176%) significantly increased for the participants.

Our team is the driving force behind our success

McDenis Banda, is the trusted driver working under the SoSuRe project based in Mulanje. He joined SHA/UP on the 1st December 2015 and has over 7 years of experience in vehicle operation and fleet management. His core responsibilities include driving project staff as they implement their various activities, fleet management, and undertaking various other duties as assigned by management.

"I enjoy my job as I get to meet and interact with people from different backgrounds. I enjoy the field work and get to learn more about other people's cultures when I travel to new places. Whenever I am given an opportunity to travel, I try my best to learn as much and apply it in my life to help me grow. My dream is to study Transport and Logistics so that I could be the head of the Fleet Department someday," he happily shares.

SHA/UP Driver, McDenis Banda based at the Mulanje field office

STORIES FROM THE PEOPLE WE WORK WITH: VILLAGE SAVING AND LOANS KEY TO FOOD AND INCOME SECURITY

With the increasing cost of farming, he bought a motorized water pump in 2020, valued at K120,000 using K80,000 from his savings from Village Savings Loans (VSL) and 40,000 from his profits made from selling Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) produce. Ever since he bought his pump, he has minimized his expenses, saving K70,000 per farming season and now only using K16,000 towards the pump for fuel.

Besides farming, Kamtedza has been a member of a VSL group for over 2 years, where has has been trained in VSL leadership, group dynamics, borrowing and loan management. He was selected to be the Community Based Trainer (CBT) for Msungwi Village Savings and Loan (VSL) Group. The group had 11 women and 5 men. Today Ephraim is a CBT, overseeing 5 VSL groups comprising of 20 members on average (a total of 100 farmers.)

Before he leaves for work every morning, Ephraim Kamtedza prays for guidance over his daily work. He picks up his hoe and takes off to work in his garden before he has his usual breakfast of porridge. His green field is visible from a distance, evidence of Ephraim’s hard work to make sure he has food available throughout the year. The 48 year old has six children and hails from Austin village, Traditional Authority Phimbi in Balaka. He is a direct beneficiary of project interventions by Self Help Africa/United Purpose through Action on Poverty, with funding from the Australian government. Balaka district usually experiences erratic rains, so farmers practice irrigation farming for sustainable agricultural farming. However, irrigation has been a challenge for most farmers because of a lack of resources to purchase farming inputs and the necessary technologies.

"At first I used to hire a pump to help with irrigation it would cost me a total K70,000 for one whole farming season (10,000 per session). For the crops to mature I needed to irrigate seven times, and this was very costly and time-consuming.

“Before SHA/UP’s interventions, the food we farmed usually ran out by November forcing us to buy food from November until February. Purchasing food was inconsistent as my income was not stable, meaning our family struggled to eat at times" lamented Kamtedza.

When tropical cyclone Ana hit the country, many of the farmers in Ephraims community were heavily affected with the Cyclone. Fortunately, after the storm Msungwi VSL was still active and Ephraim obtained a loan of K200,000 and bought 5 bags of rice, each weighing 50 kilograms that he was able to sell and he invested the profits back into his farming, making additional income to support his family.

"Thank you, Australian government, and SHA/UP, we've not only learnt how to grow Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato, but we've been able to sell and make profits from OFSP and invest it in so many ways" he said smiling. Targeting 4000 smallholder farmers in Balaka, the project aims to increase farmer incomes through increased and diversified agricultural production, increased food security, and better market access.

Ephraim Kamtedza using his motorised pump in his maize garden