Farmers applaud project for improving livelihoods
Farmers from group village head Chipole in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mbera in Balaka District have transformed their livelihoods through livestock and poultry farming after securing a K14 million grant.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture officials toured the village to appreciate the activities of the group that include rearing chickens and goats, which is part of Promoting Sustainable Partnership for Empowered Resilience (Prosper) project.
Kachere Farmers Group vice-chairperson Rabecca Anika said in an interview that they raised K8 million from members and later they obtained a grant of K14 million from the project.
She said: “The K8 million that we contributed came from various farming activities such as maize and vegetables cultivation.
“Apart from raising chickens and goats, this project has also empowered us to establish village savings and loans groups.”
Balaka district senior agricultural officer Samson Chinkhadze, who is also the district’s Prosper coordinator, said the initiative is aimed at empowering communities that were affected by climate shocks by equipping them with modern farming techniques.
He said Prosper programme has empowered 15 farmer groups in four T/As of Kachenga, Kalembo, Amidu and Mbera in Balaka District through disbursement of K168 million.
The Ministry of Agriculture has been implementing Prosper, a multi-stakeholder resilience programme introduced in 2018, to reduce poverty among rural households in Malawi.
