Billions have gone into various developmental initiatives in Malawi, but most projects collapse as soon as funding expires.
The fragile gains worry change agents, including World Vision which has been operating in Malawi since 1982.
The faith-based organisation supports different sectors, mainly education, livelihoods, maternal and child health as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash).
Recently, the organisation set aside a week to track the existence and impact of its major assets and initiatives nationwide.
Despite the flickering tales of hope, the story is different at Lufita Trading Centre, Senior Chief Mwabulambya in Chitipa District.
In 2008, World Vision donated a sunflower processing machine to Witimba-Kaseye Cooperative in the vicinity.
Unlike many assets, the cooking oil factory is still running, churning out 100 litres daily.
“Strong governance structures have helped us to reach where we are today,” says cooperative chairperson Andrew Mtambo. “We have an executive committee, subcommittees and board that protect our shared interests.”
The group of 114 started as an agribusiness association in 2003.
It has acquired assets from the proceeds of the cooking oil business.
Its property includes a business shop at Lufita Trading Centre and a poultry house and land at Ilema Market where they plan to build another shop.
“We have built a warehouse and World Vision assisted us with iron sheets. We also constructed another building which houses the sunflower cooking oil mini-factory,” Mtambo explains.
Apart from processing cooking oil, the cooperative plans to start buying and selling different crops to smother roaming traders who buy farmers’ hard-earned harvests cheaply.
Procurement Sub-committee chairperson Fiskani Bakali says most farmers in their area are duped by vendors who offer lower prices than the farm gate price set by the Ministry of Agriculture.
“We are here to help reverse the raw deal and to add value to all the farm produce from our members and even non-members,” she narrates.
The cooperative also plans to buy a bigger sunflower pressing machine to meet the overwhelming demand for cooking oil.
“Even non-members process their sunflower here. That is why we need bigger machines,” Bakali states.
Sick and tired of selling raw grain, they envision grinding maize, soya beans and beans into flour for local consumption and export.
“We need approximately K500 million to fulfil the dream of adding value to all our farm produce,” she says.
The cooperative twice applied for a matching grant from the Agriculture Commercialisation Project, but were not successful.
In 2013, Costa Hofisi and Martha Chizima investigated the sustainability of donor- funded projects in Malawi.
The study found that for continuity and optimal results, the design of development interventions should clearly articulate how they would work with local communities while strengthening local governance and service structures.
Working with local authorities is a must, they recommend.
Hendrix Kalanje, World Vision programmes manager for Karonga, says seeing the cooperative in Chitipa still running 14 years on is no mean feat, but motivating.
He states: “The project recipients’ capacity to continue operating their projects after World Vision transitioned gives us the confidence that the community and local partners were actively involved in the development of the programme vision and priorities.
“This leads to the ownership of the interventions that World Vision implemented in the area.”
To Kalanje, this shows that the community values the cooperative and the beneficiaries were actively involved in decision-making from programme design to implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
“It is clear that the community members understood their vision and aspirations and worked steadfastly with World Vision as a partner in addressing developmental challenges.”
