Gift of the Givers gives people goats

Gift of the Givers Foundation has distributed 217 goats to 48 households in Machinga District.

Speaking on Thursday during the distribution at Nawanga Village, Traditional Authority (T/A) Liwonde in the district, the foundation’s agriculture officer Horace Pyam’dziko said the initiative was part of an ongoing hunger alleviation project under Zakati Fund.

He said: “As Gift of the Givers, we are implementing a hunger alleviation project where we are supporting vulnerable households with food packages every month.

“We realised that the packages were not enough, therefore, we came up with this intervention to help them build resilience.”

Pyam’dziko said the initiative cost K19.5 million, covering the goats, training of farmers and community animal health workers, provision of construction materials for goat shelters and animal kits.

“We piloted the livestock project last year in Machinga, Mangochi and Zomba where the results are positive; hence, expanding it to other communities,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries, Square Lali thanked the foundation for the support, saying it will go a long way in addressing challenges the communities face.

“We will become economically independent, which will help us work to develop our areas instead of spending time searching for food,” he said.

Lali urged other beneficiaries not to sell the animals, saying they are an important asset.

Another beneficiary, Imran Ngwale, said people did not harvest enough because of the prolonged dry spells in the 2023/24 growing season, as such, livestock farming was a good alternative.

“With unreliable rainfall, we should brace for poor harvests. However, to build resilience, we need to raise animals,” he said