For a number of years, Joseph Mhango of Sasasa Area, T/A Chivwenene in Rumphi District has been living without any reliable income generating activity.
However, through the Beans Farming Intervention under the Empowering Vulnerable Populations Through Climate Smart & Agro-Ecological Practices And Gender Equality project, with funding from NCA – DCA, this is a story of the past.
“During the 2024/2025 farming season, I received 18 Kilograms of beans which was cultivated on a half-acre piece of land”, said Joseph.
This marked the genesis of Joseph’s transformation. From the beans he received, he managed to harvest 162 Kilograms, 90 of which were sold, 36 were kept for seeds for the next farming season, 18 was returned for pass-on and 18 was for meant for household consumption.
From the ones he sold, he managed to get an amount of K350,000.
Joseph then decided to mould 2500 bricks and build a grocery within the area. From the sales (from beans farming), he managed to buy 10 iron sheets, 1 bag of cement to be used for finishing and a solar panel to be used for lighting.
In his shop, he sells various items such as cooking oil, soap, soya pieces, salt and snacks among others.
Furthermore, Joseph was also part of the of beneficiaries of the tomato production under the micro investment drip irrigation and he later graduated to start on his own towards end of 2025 and has started with about half-acre piece of land. His tomato field is doing well and he is set to realise reasonable profits from tomato sales this year. So far, he has harvested 385 Kilograms, which has been sold at Mphompha market. From the amount of tomato sold, he has earned K260,000.
All factors being equal, he anticipates to harvest about 2,485 Kilograms translating to MWK1,980,000.
He plans to intensify his farming business so that he can be able to purchase a motorbike so as to ease the transportation challenge currently facing Sasasa area. In addition, he stressed his need to reinvest the proceeds into beans and tomato farming so that he can become one of the lead farmers in tomato and beans production in his area.
“SPRODETA through the Empowering Vulnerable Populations Through Climate Smart & Agro-Ecological Practices And Gender Equality project has helped me to become self-reliant”, Joseph narrated.
