Smallholder Farmers in Malawi Experience Transformation Thanks to Afikepo and Kulima Projects

Malawi: Micah Mbeye, age 41, had been toiling in vain for years. Even though she worked very hard to produce maize, a common grain, the harvest was never good, writes Soyapi Jalanthowa.

Her life was made miserable year after year by unpredictable rainfall patterns, subpar farming practices, and fall army worms that attacked the maize.

Because we couldn't afford to buy commercial pesticides from stores, fall army worms were the main reason why we weren't harvesting as much in the past, according to Mbeye.

But, thanks to the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) strategy promoted through the twin projects of Afikepo and Kulima, which the Malawian government and the Food and Agriculture Organization FAO implemented in the country with funding from the European Union, the tide has turned for Mbeye and many other small-holder farmers in the Chitipa district.

She says that trials were conducted at the Farmer Field School to ascertain the best strategy for dealing with fall armyworms in that region.

Mbeye says that, among other things, they discovered how to deal with fall army worms by using regional techniques.

She says that among other things, they learned how to apply sugar and milled small fish (bonya) to a maize field that was infested with fall bugs.

Communities near Kameme have also seen improvements in their nutritional status as a result of the projects, thanks to food demonstrations.

The use of backyard gardens, which supply crucially important vegetables at the household level, complements such endeavors.

Pawpaw farmers in Karonga's Thawiro section are also reaping the benefits of the Afikepo project.

The secretary for Tisinthe Farmer Field School is Mussa Mtonga. Mussa claims that after realizing the region's dearth of fruits, they started pawpaw farming to supplement their diets.

The tide has also changed for the rice farmers in the Limphasa area of Nkhata Bay. They used to harvest very little rice, but now they can laugh because the Afikepo project that was being implemented in the area has almost doubled their output.

Phiri claims that as a result of using care groups' methodologies, their nutrition status has significantly improved.

The main goals of the twin projects Afikepo and Kulima are to increase agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security, among other things, by utilizing the care group model and Farmer Field Schools (FFS).

The primary goal of the Kulima project was to use the FFS approach to close gaps in agricultural extension.

There aren't many agricultural extension agents in the nation, which is the backdrop to this.

Currently, the nation has just under 1700 agricultural extension specialists working with more than 4 million farmers.

This means that one extension agent serves between 2500 and 3000 farmers, so some farmers are left out of key modern agriculture technologies.

In order to close these gaps in extension, the Kulima project trained over 600 extension service providers to become Master Trainers through the FFS, who then assisted in the training of about 8000 community-based facilitators who are responsible for facilitating the learning process in farmer field schools.

For women of childbearing age, adolescent girls, infants, and young children in the targeted districts, the Afikepo component aims to increase and diversify their dietary intake of safe and nutritious foods to achieve optimal nutrition.

Many smallholder farmers' lives have been drastically changed by such a strategy.

The chief crop officer at Mzuzu ADD is Andrew Sikwese. Farm field schools, according to Sikwese, are essential for closing the agriculture extension gap.

According to him, farm field schools have benefited the majority of the farmers trained at the Mzuzu Residential Training Center, particularly in conducting trials in land and livestock management.

The revamping of banana farming in response to the banana bunch disease is one of the advancements made through the Afikepo and Kulima projects, according to Sikwese.

He claimed that so far, things are looking up because the majority of farmers who have received training at the facility have gone on to found farm field schools, which are greatly assisting in ensuring the adoption of new farming technologies.

According to Sikwese, promoting project activities and having strong farmer adaptability can greatly aid in achieving the Malawi2063 goal.

James Trust Mizere, the district animal health and livestock development officer for the Nkhata Bay district, agrees with Sikwese regarding the advancements made through the twin projects of Afikepo and Kulima.

Mizere claims that the farmer field school approach has had a significant positive impact on Nkhata Bay, particularly in the area of livestock production.

According to him, the majority of farmers who have attended farmer field schools have increased their output when raising goats, pigs, and even rabbits.

Mizere, however, asserts that the district lacks a strategic livestock market because farmers are still having trouble moving their pigs or selling them.

Memory Nyemba is the Nkhata Bay FAO district coordinator.

According to Nyemba, the twin projects have praised farmers' adoption of cutting-edge crop and livestock management techniques and technologies.

Concerning nutrition, Nyemba claimed that the Afikepo project has increased the production of bio-fortified crops like orange potatoes and yellow maize, which are high in vitamin A.

The government has praised the initiatives as being crucial in lowering the nation's rate of malnutrition, which puts strain on the already troubled healthcare system.

Enock Phale, who was the deputy minister of health at the time, emphasized the need for the government to figure out how to continue funding projects that promote household food security.

The Afikepo and Kulima projects have completely changed the lives of the farmers who participated in the twin initiatives.