acfmalawi

A Water Problem

Water at ACF has been our biggest challenge. During ACF’s first year we had floods followed by drought. Last year saw Cyclone Freddy dump unprecedented rains on ACF’s garden destroying our first planted crops, damaging roads and buildings that were under construction. This year, el Nino has cut the rainy season and left our soilsContinue reading “A Water Problem”

Inspired Micro-Farm

Today sustainable agriculture is a popular concept in farming, although it can mean many different things. At ACF we used words like sustainable, green and regenerative to describe what we wanted to accomplish within our various projects. But we were unsure how exactly to implement them. Then we stumbled across Emma Naluyima, a farmer inContinue reading “Inspired Micro-Farm”

Fruitful beginnings

When the first visions of ACF were coming into fruition blooming trees were at the forefront of its plans. A cashew orchard running a long the middle of farm, banana tress along its waterways and fruit trees along the fence line. ACF held its first seedling workshop its newly built nursery. Mr. Mapopa Banda fromContinue reading “Fruitful beginnings”

ACF’s Founding Team

In the middle of the rainy season a group of women came together to form what would be ACF. It started as an idea where women in the community could exchange ideas and start projects together with the support of the Scottish Malawi Fund and Saint Andrews Macadamia (SAM). The group of five women cameContinue reading “ACF’s Founding Team”

Cyclone Freddy

Cyclone Freddy has caused massive damage across southern Malawi and over 1,400 deaths. Namadzi was hard hit with record rain fall. We are grateful, despite the scale of the cyclone’s damage, SAM staff have not reported any injuries as of yet. Accessibility Currently SAM estate is inaccessible via the normal roads by vehicle (SAM management canContinue reading “Cyclone Freddy”

Intro to beekeeping

ACF held its first training, which was a beekeeping workshop. Bees not only will help pollinate the surrounding macadamia trees but provide a tasty product for the women to process and sell. Our founding members learned the basics of beekeeping and how to assemble hives from the Honey Den. The group set-up 10 hives during the training. Continue reading “Intro to beekeeping”

Building the Foundations for an Entrepreneurial Village

This month we broke ground on the foundations for SAM’s entrepreneurial village in Namadzi, a village an hour outside Blantyre, Malawi. After talking with the community, farm staff and touring other projects in Malawi our team had an idea what the needs and wants were in the Namadzi community. A group of six women cameContinue reading “Building the Foundations for an Entrepreneurial Village”