29-07-2019 | di COOPI

Malawi, irrigated agriculture. "We have three harvests a year thanks to COOPI"

Soyaga Alabi is among the some 19,000 farmers who benefited from the "Strengthening the resilience of vulnerable communities in Salima and Mangochi districts" project, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

Soyaga told us how COOPI contribution to the Tiyamike irrigation scheme has improved their community’s life.

"Nine years ago, my first harvest was very bad, because of drought. So, together with 10 other farmers, we decided to focus on irrigated agriculture. In 2017, solar pumps supplied by COOPI increased our production - this new technology had greatly facilitated our daily activities and we have been able to irrigate areas that we could not reach before.

The results were not long in coming, indeed. Now our group has 15 new members and we have increased our production by three harvests a year.

Recently, we have also started fish farming activities. After selling fishes and benefiting from cash for work activities - following our contribution for the construction of the fish tanks - we have been able to provide for our families. Our earnings also helped us to face the devastating effects of the cyclone Idaya that hit our country in March.”

Since 2017, COOPI has been implementing the AICS-funded project to strengthen resilience for the vulnerable communities in the districts of Salima and Mangochi, thus supporting them to counter the effects of climate change and improve their production capacity.