Posted on June, 24, 2019 at 10:33 am
Written by Dyson Kamwana
Women and Youth in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Lukwa in Kasungu have commended Centre for Integrated Community Development (CICOD) and Oxfam for empowering them economically through an agribusiness project they are implementing in the area.
Through the Project, called Kasungu Youth and Women in Agribusiness (KAYWA), the Women and Youth were mobilized into cooperatives to help boost their bargaining power when selling their farm produce.
Treasurer for Tiyanjane Women Group, Chimwemwe Chimzukila said their agricultural earnings have increased since they organized themselves into a cooperative and added that their group is planning for value addition to maximize profit.
“Selling agricultural produce through a cooperative has helped us realize more income because we sell directly to the buyers at higher prices. We are also planning to start processing the crops to produce different products such as cooking oil, milk and honey,” she said.
KAYWA Project Coordinator, Hastings Mputeni highlighted that the project is showing fruits as some women and youth groups have managed to secure buyers and sell their produce collectively and directly to companies.
“The women and youth groups are benefiting a lot since the launch of the project in 2017. Some youth groups have collectively sold their soya bean worth K2, 800,000 which is higher than what vendors have been offering,” he said.
CICOD in partnership with Oxfam, with funding from Oxfam Ireland, is implementing a five year KAYWA project which started in 2017 and will end in 2021.
The project is targeting 1,500 women and youth.
Source: Malawi News Agency (MANA Online)