Unsupported Media Type

Joyce Zebron, 45, used to curse hunger and poverty for robbing her dignity. But the turnaround came in 2018 when she joined an enterprising Agwenda Women Input Loan Initiative (AWILI), dedicated to improving women smallholder farmers’ livelihoods through provision of input loans. Since then, her productivity and incomes have steadily increased thereby improving her household socio-economic status. She is now able to support her household and has some extra money for savings. Joyce was 43 when she attended AWILI program sensitization and registration meeting, supported by CAT. Three years later, she has remained a darling to the program. Now, she can ably pay school tuition for her three children and buy new school uniforms and other clothes for them to attend school well dressed, which was impossible before joining the initiative. Her recent purchase is a push bike for home use.  “In 2018/2019 farming season I joined AWILI program and got a 50kg bag of fertilizer and 15 kg of groundnut seed. I paid back religiously and managed to make good sales from the remainder of the harvest,” says Joyce from Kayoyo Club, Chitedze Village, in Nkhotakota District. In 2019/2020 she produced 48 bags of maize, 26 bags of groundnuts and paid back 9 bags and 3 bags respectively to AWILI from the inputs collected. In 2020/2021 season she took 2 bags of fertilizer (UREA and NPK), 10 kgs of maize seed, 21 kgs of groundnut seed, inoculant and harvested 55 bags of 50 kg each (Maize) and paid back 9 bags. She also harvested 78 bags of groundnuts, paid back 9 and sold off the remaining 69 bags to realise revenues amounting MK 621,000. “We have consumed some of the maize but now I am remaining with 22 bags of maize and will take me and my family to the next harvesting season.” she explains. “I have dealt with the hunger and poverty that used to strike me and my family every year. We have our dignity back. Thanks to AWILI, I have plenty of maize at my house, no-one is hungry anymore,” she narrates with a smile. “Through CAT support to AWILI, I have learnt that there is strength in belonging to a group,” she added. Following the CAT lesson and the groundnut revenues, Joyce has now joined a Village Savings and Loan (VSL) group in her village and is saving money for her household use