What an amazing day. We travelled off the paved road, on a dirt track, for 1 and a half hours outside of Lilongwe. After the first five minutes, there was not a single electricity pylon or running water in sight. Literally, just miles of dirt track, maize, tobacco, ground nuts and occasional oxen (the major form of transport in these parts).
Why were we travelling for two hours in the rain? To meet the lovely Amosi Kasamira. Amosi is one of OIBM’s smallholder farmers who grows maize. In the past year, he has seen a fivefold increase in his family’s income. When is the last time anyone you knew saw this sort of jump?! This is partially due to OIBM’s loan which enabled him to buy seeds and fertilizer and to double the size of his plot. But arguably of more importance, Amosi received training and support from OIBM’s agriculturalist specialists. This training covered best practices in agricultural techniques and helped him to build a long term vision for the future. For example, helping him move away from just subsistence farming towards producing enough crop to sell for other basic needs. In Amosi’s case, he is responsible for 2 children and an orphan. He needs cash for school fees and hopefully this year’s surplus will enable him to do this.
Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world but there is no reason it should have a hungry season. If we could teach more people like Amosi to fish...or farm...the country would have no issues with food security.
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