Sowing Seeds of Change: How Mpesa Cooperative is Transforming Malawian Farming
Farmers in Malawi are vulnerable to climate and economic shocks. Many work in isolation, cultivating one crop per season, and lack social and financial safety nets. Financial instability is exacerbated by single-source income models – relying on one agricultural season and typically one crop, making income once a year. Before partnering with Community Agribusiness Partners (CAP), Mpesa Cooperative members were facing a similar reality. Fanny Kuwani, a member of Mpesa Cooperative shares her experience.
“Historically, we relied on tobacco to make ends meet. It required a lot of fertilizer and was not profitable to us, but we believed it was the only profitable crop to grow. Then in 2017, CAP (formerly the Clinton Development Initiative) encouraged us to explore other crops starting with soybeans and compare its profitability to tobacco. We received training on how to grow soybeans and mounted demonstration plots to showcase best practices to other members of the cooperative. After one season of growing soybeans, we were surprised by the money we made after sales. This was just the beginning of our communities’ transformation. CAP also encouraged us to come together, form business groups and collectively market our products. They provided soybean seed and inoculant as input loans which increased our productivity, and then linked us to buyers that bought from us at competitive prices. After successfully repaying our loans and collectively aggregating our products, CAP facilitated a connection to the Ministry of Trade who supported the legal registration of Mpesa Cooperative in 2019.”
“Our partnership with CAP has transformed our community,” Often Gibson a member of Mpesa Cooperative adds. “Throughout the years, CAP has linked us with several partners such as Standard Bank of Malawi, Farmers Organization Limited, SeedCo and Lenziemill. Because of the business training we received from CAP, we have seen the potential in expanding our agribusinesses. Our partnership with Lenziemill has helped us to diversify our revenue; they supplied us with point-of-lay chickens. The new business provided us with cash daily as we collected more than 35 trays of eggs daily. Last year, we made 9 million Kwacha (more than $5,000) in profit after selling chickens and eggs. Additionally, we applied for a grant from the Agricultural Commercialization Project (AGCOM) to expand our business and we were awarded 100 million Kwacha (nearly $60,000). We have used the money to add black Australorp chickens which are also a good breed for both eggs and meat. We now have 2,000 chickens in our kraal.”
Collecting eggs.
Mpesa Cooperative shared that they currently spend a lot of money on chicken feed and have aspirations to produce feed as a cooperative. Chief Palawo also shared his excitement about the future, “I love what I am seeing in my village. Members of Mpesa Cooperative are an inspiration. They have proven that farming is a business, and it is possible for a farmer to have money on a daily basis. There are also strong Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) within the cooperative. I believe that supporting them to produce their own feed will be transformative, as it will be another source of income. The feed could be used not only for their own chickens, but also to people in surrounding communities that are looking to rear chickens.”
Mpsea Cooperative gathering.
CAP is working with Mpesa and 43 other cooperatives under Dikirani Cooperative Union, an umbrella cooperative whose mandate is to support its cooperatives members establish long-lasting relationships with business partners and create reliable and resilient revenue streams in the agriculture sector. These business partnerships are critical for cooperative members to access crucial productive resources such as supplies, capital, advisory services, and market information, enhancing their ability to consistently sell quality products at competitive prices and engage in diversified agribusiness. When cooperatives work together and have strong governance and partnership networks, they’re able to implement their influence in the agricultural economy, leading to shaping policies and practices, stronger negotiation, and advocacy, and capturing more revenue in their agricultural activities.
