For young farmers such as Lokomile Loewata, supporting a young family and making a livelihood from his single hectare plot of land was always going to be difficult.
But that task has been made significantly easier thanks to his participation in a goat rearing programme which Self Help Africa has embarked on in Kachembele village in Malawi’s Kaphuka Project area.
One of a handful of small-holders to have been provided with goats by Self Help Africa last November, Lokomile Loewata has since seen his improved breed male Boer goat variety and local female produce four kids, all of which are currently being fattened for sale next year.
The local farmer and father of two young children is also currently receiving training and support from Self Help Africa under the EU funded APIP maize programme, and thanks to the project has been assisted through a community administered ‘seed bank’ with the propagating of soya beans and Irish potatoes.
Lokomila Loewata is expecting that the sale of his four fattened goats can yield him up to 8,000 kwacha (€70) next year – the equivalent of almost 50 per cent of a person’s average annual income in Malawi. |
