Farming for survival in one of the world’s poorest countries

Lifestyle –  Judy Murphy travelled to Malawi where she was enchanted by the natural beauty but saddened by the scale of the poverty

“We need a fence.” That was the simple message from the group of farmers in Malawi’s Monkey Bay area who are working to lift their community out of poverty through a co-operative scheme that will see them produce fruit and vegetables for local markets and for the growing tourist industry in this south-eastern African country.

Monkey Bay is on the shores of the vast Lake Malawi, and thanks to support from Irish people and their own hard work, these farmers have set up a solar-powered irrigation scheme that’s watering the area’s fertile volcanic soil. But goats are everywhere and they are a problem.

No fence, even one made using thorny acacia trees, can keep them from destroying the crops. The farmers have a dilemma. They need goats for meat and to sell them. But they don’t want them destroying their vegetables. A 2,000-metre steel wire fence would solve the problem but they just don’t have the money for it. And given that they are subsistence farming in one of the world’s poorest countries, it’ll be a long time before they do.

Their co-op, comprising 65 farmers, covers some 25 hectares.  Men and women work in their tiny fields, using primitive tools to prepare the soil for planting. All are at different stages. In some plots, tomatoes, mustard, cabbage and aubergines are thriving, while other areas are being cleared of thorny growth.

While the farmers outline their project, helped by translator and local horticulturalist, Winston Chaiwa, hundreds of children follow us around, some in rags, many in their bare feet despite the thorny ground.

Our 15-strong group of Irish visitors have been aware for some time of the work being done by the Irish-led Sunergy charity and several have been involved in fundraising for it. Sunergy’s Irish liaison officer is Tipperary man, Seamus Hayes, formerly Assistant Field Director with the aid agency Self-Help.

While Seamus works with the farmers, his wife, Elizabeth, a retired home economics teacher is busy empowering a group of women. Elizabeth, originally Elizabeth Loughnane from Loughrea, is running a sewing class like no other. Eleven local women are busy on Singer machines as they sit under the shade of a giant tree. These newly acquired machines are operated manually and by foot – there’s no electricity in this remote place.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.