The Ekari Cluster in Malawi has always had a big vision. To overcome poverty and drive economic growth in their country. Recently, they received a USD 85,000 grant that will help their dream become a reality. One of the leaders, SHORA, shares lessons they learnt through the application process and what they hope to achieve in the future..
Tell us about the Agriculture Commercialisation (AGCOM) program and what led you to apply for this grant. AGCOM is a government program for transforming small scale agriculture to commercial agriculture. The objective is to increase the resilience of food systems and the country’s preparedness for food insecurity. Two years ago, we saw similar farmer cooperatives to ours getting grants after their bidding processes. We were inspired and motivated when we saw small scale farmers graduate into commercial farming and decided to apply for the grant.
What did you learn during the process of application?
Teamwork yields: The grant was targeting organised farmers who were in groups. We also had an advantage because we would meet together and share different ideas and skills during the application process.
Patience and determination: Our farmers cooperative knew about this grant in 2022. However, we didn’t qualify because we did not meet the eligibility criteria at the time. We remained determined and little by little, worked together to ensure that we met all the requirements.
Don’t stop learning: We formed partnerships and participated in various leadership and development trainings, most notably the Arukah Network Africa Leadership Training in Kenya. There, we learned the SALT concept, which helped our leaders strengthen their skills.
Networking: Our cooperative networked with other cooperatives to learn how they operate, helping us identify best practices we could adopt. One example is improving the frequency of meetings and how to handle absences.
Compliance with national laws: Compliance is the biggest tool in this grant application process. Apart from registrations, there were other requirements to comply with.
What challenges did you face when applying and how did you overcome them? This was our first ever application and so we weren’t sure if we could manage to do it because the template was complex. However, with collective effort we shared the tasks among ourselves and made some consultations to gather reliable data. In the end we successfully compiled and developed the proposal.
How do you plan to use the grant? The grant will be used to procure groundnut seeds and sacks for storage, purchase and install a cooking oil expeller machine, construct a warehouse and factory, compensate employees, purchase 2 cars for transportation and procure farm tractors.
What are your long-term goals for the project, and how do you envision its growth? Our goal is to produce 300,000 kg of groundnuts every year and 90,000 litres of cooking oil after 6 years. We also aim to diversify by producing peanut butter and establishing 20 distribution outlets across the southern districts. To achieve this, we will increase the cooperative's membership base and also employ 30 women and youth.
What advice would you give to others who are considering applying for similar grants? Determination and putting your ideas on paper is very important because it always reminds the group about their focus areas and what they are supposed to do. It's also important to understand the country’s laws and regulations related to the group's activities, so you're ready to take advantage of opportunities. Lastly, I encourage cluster members to make the most of capacity-building opportunities and share the knowledge with their teams to benefit the group.
Thank you for sharing Shora and congratulations to the Ekari Cluster on your success! All the best moving forward.
Read the full story of the Ekari Cluster here
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