Eveless Banda lives with her husband, Francis, and their six children in Denthema, Nkhata Bay North. She farms maize and vegetables but had previously only been doing so on a very small scale due to the cost of chemical pesticides and fertilisers. 

In Nkhata Bay North, Northern Malawi, where Temwa works, 90% of families like Eveless’ are subsistence farmers. These families depend on being able to grow food but are facing hardships due to the effects of climate change. Erratic rainfall, drought, flooding, strong winds and crop pests are affecting food production and exacerbating high vulnerability and poverty, lowering agricultural productivity for farmers like Eveless.

The little money she earned was barely enough to feed her family and did not stretch to paying for her children’s school fees. This knock-on effect negatively impacts families in the region and saw Eveless reach out to Temwa and attend Farmer Field School.

The project aims to improve food security for vulnerable households through which local lead farmers will train their peers in agricultural knowledge and skills. This is a group-based learning process where farmers engage in experiential learning, experimenting and problem-solving in their fields.

“Life was a bit challenging as I couldn’t have money to produce enough food for the family. But since I joined Temwa, there has been improved crop production as I now use different manure which does not require a lot of money compared to fertilisers.”

Eveless joined her local Farmer Field School in the hope of improving her farming skills and increasing her scale. She has now been trained on using organic fertilisers and pesticides which is already improving her crop production and saving her money.

“I believe that I will be a woman who is able to support her family with these skills gained from the Farmer Field School. I will be able to produce more using resources that do not require a lot of money.”

Over time, this will help embed climate-smart agriculture and food production practices and improve capacity and skills across the community – increasing agricultural productivity and climate resilience for families like Eveless’, while enhancing the capacity to manage natural resources.

Find out more about our agriculture projects here

Check out our latest Farmer Feild School impact report here