News

Scotland’s First Minister Meets ACF & SAM

Strengthening Partnerships for Malawi’s Economic Future Last month, Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney met with representatives from the African Lakes Company (ALC), Agricultural Community Foundation (ACF) and Saint Andrews Macadamia (SAM) at Mandala House, one of Blantyre’s most historic landmarks. Built in the early 20th century, Mandala House has long served as a cultural crossroadsContinue reading “Scotland’s First Minister Meets ACF & SAM”

One year of ACF

It’s been an eventful first year at ACF. Our few acres have been busy with construction work, planting and planning. As we build ACF from the ground up our core team of five women have developed new ideas and projects. Finishing touches are being made to our farm shop, office and meeting room. As wellContinue reading “One year of ACF”

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”

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”

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”