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Agwenda Brief
We are a private limited company providing agro-related products and services to rural communities in central and northern region of Malawi. We are also registered by the Central Bank of Malawi as a Microfinance Institution providing cash, farm inputs and improved local chickens to women and youths under our model Agwenda Women Input Loan Initiative (AWILI). The model recognizes the gap that rural women and youths face in accessing loans from formal financial institutions as they are usually rendered un-bankable. By providing improved farm inputs through our agro shops and imparting farming knowledge through our extension officers, our rural women and youth farmers are equipped for the farming season!
After registering bumper harvest, we are paid in back in harvest (crops and eggs) at a fair rate. When the eggs are repaid, they are incubated at our farm; the newly hatched chicks are nurtured and given to new clients (women and youths) at 5 weeks old to realize high chicken survival rate.
When paid back in crops/harvest, we sell off the produce/grain and procure more climate resilient seeds and other inputs for both old and new farmers to plant in the upcoming rainfed season thereby achieving project/business sustainability in a manner that both the farmer and the company go home smiling (win-win). We then provide buy-back services for the extra harvest from farmers thereby providing steady markets while increasing household incomes. We have existing contracts with larger off-takers (both domestically and regionally) where we sale off the produce. Our promoted value chains are Poultry, Rice, Soybeans, Groundnuts and Maize.
We have a team of 5 senior management, 8 extension officers and 34 lead farmers that supports 3650 farmers already organized in formal groups of cooperatives and associations, the groups are further chunked into clubs (10 people per club) which also acts as a social collateral. Our model is loved by rural women and youths because of its innovativeness as it relates well with rural agribusiness.
Our goal is to reach to 10,000 rural women and youth farmers by 2026.
Frustrating rural poverty through AWILI
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To meet the farmers’ expectation and beyond.Â
To be the company that satisfies the product, service and self-fulfillment needs of rural women smallholder farmers through Agribusiness across Malawi.
To contribute towards increasing incomes and improve food security for smallholder (especially women and youth) farming households across Malawi in a profit oriented and sustainable manner.
Why we exist
Frustrating rural poverty through AWILI
The Problem
The main problem of Malawi’s agriculture are low productivity and profitability of smallholder agriculture. Limited access to improved farming inputs has contributed to low productivity leading to most rural household food insecure. Shortage of markets (especially by women) has led to low profitability. Despite women championing farm activities, they are the most marginalized in accessing input finance.
The Solution
We provide improved and certified agro-inputs to rural masses at competitive prices to ensure they access quality inputs in a bid to increase productivity. We deliberately target women by financing them with improved farm inputs on loan paid back in kind.
Our targeted value chains are oil crops, spices, rice and legumes. We provide ready markets under the same value chains.
10,843
Members
4,362
Micro-finance beneficiaries
12,380
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