Extension Services
We have a team of 8 extension officers and 34 lead farmers that supports 4650 farmers already organized in formal groups of cooperatives and associations, the groups are further clustered in clubs (10 people per club) which also acts as a social collateral. Prior to accessing our improved inputs, we ensure the groups are trained and knowledgeable both through farm clinics/demos and classroom trainings. This prepares the farmers to be better agri-business acumen and also to be good custodians of the AWILI program.
“The aim is to make sure the women and youth farmers harvest in abundance leaving them with excess for both food and income after paying back to the company” Sungeni Ng’onamo, Managing Director
Our model is loved by rural women and youths because of innovativeness as it relates well with the rural farming agribusiness aspect. Our goal is to reach 10,000 rural women and youth farmers by 2026.
Focus on sustainable agriculture practices
We engage women and youth farmers to undertake Good Agriculture Practices in a manner that does not deplete the natural resource. The promoted agriculture practices are;
- Conservation Agriculture and use of chicken droppings for manure to improve soil health while minimizing use of synthetic fertilizers. We also provide the farmers with Tephrosia vogelii seeds; a nitrogen-fixing plant used as green manure to further improve soil health. The plant is also widely used across Africa as a botanical pesticide, reducing the use of synthetic pesticides which are environmentally hazardous.
- Tree planting- We also promote tree planting using locally available seeds to promote regenerative practices on depleted lands.
- Assisted Natural Regeneration- We encourage our farmers to leave some trees to regenerate in their farmland as it does NOT compete with the plants but rather complements them- reduces soil erosion, increases soil fertility especially those natural trees with nitrogen fixing properties such as Faidherbia albida.
![Our Field Officer being awarded a Certificate after attending a Legume Post-Harvest Training Workshop facilitated by the Centre for Agriculture Transformation (CAT), Kasungu, Feb. 2024](https://awili-mw.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Extension-Serv-2.jpg)