Development

Farmers improve production with WFP’s P4P

Kaunga (R) explain to visiting farmers about Mwandama's maize mill
Kaunga (R) explain to visiting farmers about Mwandama’s maize mill

Mwandama Farmer Organisation (FO) in Zomba started under the Millennium Village Project (MVP) which provided agricultural support in 2005. In an effort to become self-sufficient by the time that MVP support ends in 2015, the smallholders formed a cooperative in 2006 that would improve agricultural production and sales, and thus increase incomes.

With higher incomes, farmers are able to pay school fees, buy medicine and vital agricultural inputs such as fertiliser, to free themselves from the cycle of poverty and hunger.

After over five years of growth, Mwandama’s accomplishments are impressive. By 2009, a 2 500 metric tons (MT) grain bank had been completed which they now use to store surplus production, a small percentage of which is contributed in compensation for inputs like fertiliser.

In early 2010, Mwandama successfully sold produce to World Food Programme (WFP) and has since been among one of the most active and successful FOs on the organisation’s Purchase for Progress (P4P) roster. The organisation has been awarded 11 contracts amounting to nearly 750 MT of commodities, earning the equivalent of roughly $176 000 (about K71 million).

With more sales than ever before, members of Mwandama have reoriented themselves from being subsistence farmers to empowered actors on the commercial agriculture market.

Mwandama FO the members have employed a warehouse manager to oversee the stored food and all business activities of the cooperative. This was an important step for them, as hiring a manager with seasoned business skills has improved the members’ knowledge of business and has better positioned their farming efforts for viable success.

“Thanks to the support from WFP through P4P, Mwandama has increased its sales. We now sell at better and fairer prices and understand how to deliver food that meets globally accepted quality standards on the market,” said warehouse manager Bornwell Kaunga.

He noted that Mwandama’s first sale to WFP was a crucial factor in changing the mindset of the smallholders from farmers to entrepreneurs.

Mwandama has increased its profits to the extent that they now provide a salary for 15 employees who help operate all aspects of their business, including a maize mill, a truck with a seven MT capacity and a small shop. The start-up capital for these business activities came as a result of their consecutive large sales to WFP. To ensure continued growth, all the profits from the business and the crop sales are reinvested into all business endeavours, which include loans to smaller farmers’ clubs under Mwandama FO to pay for inputs or other necessities.

“Since I began working with the farmer organisation, I’ve seen many benefits,” said Gertrude Hoda, vice-chairperson of the board of directors of Mwandama. “I’ve been able to build a good house with an iron sheet roof and now I am food secure. With increased inputs, I have increased my income which has enabled me to invest more in all my farming efforts.”

This season, Hoda harvested 2.5 MT of food commodities including maize, pigeon peas, beans and groundnuts.

“I’ve kept aside 14 bags of maize to feed myself and my two children this year. Already I’ve sold three bags of maize and I plan to sell 14 more later this season,” she said with a beaming smile, clearly proud of the success she has achieved so far.

P4P works with FOs to ensure equal participation of men and women and works to empower women to fill decision-making positions. Some 42 percent of farmers registered under P4P in Malawi are women, and similar percentages occupy leadership positions in the executive committees of these FOs.

Representatives from other FOs who visited Mwandama on a study tour this month were eager to ask the members about their experience and business approach to farming.

When the P4P team arrived with the farmers, the warehouse was impressive and about a third full of commodities, meticulously stacked and well-organised, ready for market sale.

The farmers were engaged and keen to learn how Mwandama was able to become a successful self-sufficient business, asking questions ranging from legal business to member expectations to leadership skills.

One of the visiting farmers, Clement Mpoto, from Kaso FO in Dowa, said he learnt a lot about business from the Mwandama members.

“I have also learnt how, by working hard to improve the business part of our organisation, we can improve our family situations,” he said: “We have learnt from our friends that we need to not only produce more, but we need to also really strategise and prepare for the coming years.”

The farmers yearned to return home to share the lessons with the rest of their members.

“When I return to Kaso I am going to tell the members what I’ve seen on the visit and emphasize that we should be working hard and be transparent in how we conduct our affairs as that has really helped with Mwandama’s success,” Mpoto said.

He and his wife have been receiving P4P support for three years as members of Kaso FO. They have participated in online tenders through the Agriculture Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE) and have successfully sold to WFP and other buyers, thanks to the skills trainings provided through P4P.

To date, WFP through P4P and its partners have connected 16 000 Malawian farmers from 21 FOs to national and regional agricultural markets. By continuing to learn the tools for success and autonomy through P4P, such as post-harvest handling, quality control, marketing and management, the organisations are steadily increasing their incomes and strategically investing their earnings to improve their lives.

“For me and my wife, our vision is to produce more crops and sell enough to invest in both the cooperative as an entity in itself and at the household,” shared Mpoto.

In 2013, WFP is engaging an additional 14 organisations through P4P (for a combined total of 35 FOs) and is looking to increase its purchases from smallholders to reach 20 percent of total local purchases, empowering more farmers than ever before to engage the commercial market.

In Malawi, WFP supports economic growth by purchasing between 70 and 95 percent of its food locally, injecting over $68 million into the national economy. Through its P4P initiative, WFP has provided greater market opportunities specifically to smallholder farmers since 2009, with $15.6 million of total local expenditure being transferred into the local economy through the hands of smallholder farmers.

—Rawson works for World Bank

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